NO-one can stop the trend toward unification between China and Taiwan, Chinese president Xi Jinping has has argued in comments which were swiftly rejected by Taiwanese leadership.

In a speech devoted to Taiwan, Jinping called attempts to establish independence for the self-governing island against history and a dead-end.

“We are willing to create a vast space for peaceful unification, but we will never leave any room for any sort of Taiwan independence separatist activities,” he said.

Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, rejected his call just hours later. She said her island of 23 million people would never accept the “one country, two systems” approach proposed by Beijing.

“China must face the fact of the existence of Taiwan, Republic of China, and not deny the system of a democratic country that has been commonly built up by the Taiwanese people,” she said.

Taiwan and China split in a civil war that brought the Communists to power in China in 1949.

The rival Nationalists set up their own government on the island about 160 kilometres (100 miles) off the Chinese mainland.

Xi proposed talks between the two sides to work out “a systematic arrangement for the peaceful development of the cross-strait relationship”.

While the president said that people on both sides want peaceful reunification, it is unclear how his message will be received on the other side of the Taiwan Strait.

Tsai Ing-wen said on Tuesday that its people want to maintain their self-rule and autonomy.

Xi pledged that unification would be under a one-country, two-system framework that would respect the Taiwanese social system and way of life and guarantee their property rights, religious beliefs and other rights.

“The political disputes that have existed for a long time ... affect the healthy and continuous development of the cross-strait relationship and cannot be passed from generation to generation,” he said.