Taiwan president vows to defend democracy, way of life

Tsai's comments came days after Chinese President Xi Jinping said nobody could change the fact that Taiwan was part of China, and that people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait should seek "reunification".

Taiwan ruling party suffers major defeat in local elections — Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen. (Source: REUTERS/Ann Wang)

Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen vowed on Saturday to defend the self-ruled island’s democracy and way of life, amid renewed tension with giant neighbour China, which threatens to bring Taiwan under its rule by force.

Tsai’s comments came days after Chinese President Xi Jinping said nobody could change the fact that Taiwan was part of China, and that people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait should seek “reunification”. In response, Tsai has said the island would not accept a “one country, two systems” political arrangement with China, while stressing all cross-Strait negotiations needed to be carried out on a government-to-government basis.