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Taiwan must protect its sovereignty and recognize its own culture and history, the island's president, Lai Ching-te, said on Sunday.
Lai, who came to power in May, is a proponent of Taiwan's separate identity from China, a position that often angers Beijing, which sees the island as an inalienable part of Chinese territory.
Speaking at a convention of his party, Lai said those who have fought for Taiwan's democracy have been clear about the island's place in the world.
They have not "hesitated to shed blood and give their lives against the wrong idea that 'Taiwan is the base to reclaim the motherland' and have created a national policy that puts Taiwan at the top," Lai said.
Chiang Kai-shek and his defeated government fled Taiwan in 1949 after losing the civil war with Mao Zedong's communists.
Chiang hoped he could regroup his forces in Taiwan and attack China to destroy Mao's party.
Chiang died in 1975, without achieving that dream.
Lai said that Taiwan now has other priorities.
"Now we have the responsibility to unite the people, oppose annexation (by China) and guarantee national sovereignty", he said, speaking in Taiwanese, and not the official language of the Government, Mandarin.
"We should do our best for people to understand the history and culture of Taiwan, and create a national identity that the 23 million living in Taiwan have a destiny," he said.
China considers the president of Taiwan to be a "separatist".
Lai rejects China's claims to Taiwan, saying the island must decide its own future.
China sends aircraft and warships around Taiwan on a daily basis. / REL
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