China's Xi Jinping renews calls for 'reunification' with Taiwan

Xi Jinping said that reunification was inevitable, but stopped short of mentioning military force. Taiwan though swiftly rejected Beijing's demands as tensions continue over the island's future. Chinese President Xi Jinping has renewed his calls for "reunification” with Taiwan but refrained from mentioning the use of force.

"The historical trends are unstoppable. The complete reunification of our motherland must be realized, and it can, without doubt, be realized," Xi said on Thursday. His comments came in a speech marking the 160th birthday of Sun Yat-sen, the political leader who helped lead the 1911 revolution that overthrew China's imperial dynasty and led to the founding the Republic of China.

The Taiwanese government swiftly rebuffed the remarks, saying the territory would not accept submitting to the rule of China's Communist Party. After the founding of the Republic of China in 1912, a civil war broke out in 1927 between the Nationalists and the Communists.