Taiwan says it will not back down on sovereignty or compromise on freedom and democracy after Xi refused to rule out using force for reunification 

DHARAMSALA, 18 Oct: Taiwan has hit back at China declaring that it will not back down on its sovereignty or compromise on freedom and democracy after Chinese President Xi Jinping refused to rule out using force to unify with Taiwan during the opening of the 20th Chinese Communist Party(CCP) Congress in Beijing, Sunday.

Responding to Xi’s remarks, Taiwan’s presidential office has said that Taiwan will not back down on its sovereignty or compromise on freedom and democracy and that Taiwanese people clearly oppose Beijing’s idea of “one country, two systems” management for Taiwan.

“Taiwan’s position is firm: no backing down on national sovereignty, no compromise on democracy and freedom, and meeting on the battlefield is absolutely not an option for the two sides of the Taiwan Strait,” read a statement issued by the self-ruled island’s presidential office.

“This is the consensus of Taiwan’s people,” the presidential office has said and added that the national security team is keeping a close eye on developments at the CCP congress.

Addressing the opening of the once-in-five years Party Congress, Xi Jinping said that it is up to the Chinese people to resolve the Taiwan issue and refused to rule out using force to unify with Taiwan.

Meanwhile, according to a report on BBC, the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that China is pursuing unification with Taiwan “on a much faster timeline” than previously expected.

Beijing claims self-ruled and democratic Taiwan as its own and views it as a wayward province to be reunified with China by force if necessary.

Taiwan has been self-governed since 1949 when Chiang Kai-shek’s Kuomintang troops fled to the island after losing China’s civil war to Mao’s Communist Party.

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