By Yimou Lee and Ben Blanchard
TAIPEI, June 18 (Reuters) - Taiwan safeguarding its own security and refusing rule by China's Communist Party should not be seen as a provocation, President Lai Ching-te said on Thursday, adding he hoped a new U.S. arms sale package can be approved soon.
Democratically governed Taiwan is viewed by China as its own territory and Beijing has stepped up military and diplomatic pressure against the island.
Speaking to the Taiwan Foreign Correspondents' Club in Taipei, Lai reiterated his desire for talks based on "parity and respect" with China, but said Taiwan had a right to protect its interests and that only the Taiwanese people can decide their future.
"Taiwan's safeguarding of its own national security and maintaining its democratic and free way of life, its refusal to accept unification, and its refusal to accept rule by the Chinese Communist Party should not be seen as a provocation against China," he added.
CHINA DISMISSES LAI'S COMMENTS
China calls Lai a separatist and has rebuffed his multiple offers of dialogue.
China's Foreign Ministry said Lai's words and deeds cannot change the fact that the Taiwan issue is purely an internal Chinese affair.
"Still less can they stop the historical trend that China will eventually and inevitably be reunited," spokesperson Lin Jin told reporters in Beijing, adding that Taiwan is the country's "inalienable" territory.
Lai said China's military was extending into the Western Pacific, and its various forms of coercion continued to intensify.
"It is clear that China is the main driving force changing the status quo in the Taiwan Strait and affecting regional peace and stability."
ARMS SALES
Taiwan has also been unnerved by comments last month from U.S. President Donald Trump after he met China's Xi Jinping in Beijing that he was still considering whether to approve new arms sales for Taiwan, saying they were "a very good negotiating chip" with China.
Lai said the U.S. security commitment to Taiwan had not changed.
"The key is that Taiwan must not change course in strengthening its own defence capabilities, nor can it slow its pace," he said.
"We will continue to maintain close communication with the U.S. government, and we also hope the arms purchases can be approved as soon as possible."
Lai has championed increased defence spending, in line with calls from Trump for allies to spend more on their military.
SPECIAL DEFENCE PACKAGE
However, last month Taiwan's opposition-dominated parliament only approved two-thirds of the $40 billion supplementary defence budget Lai had proposed, cutting the part that had been meant for drones and domestically produced weapons.
On Thursday, Taiwan's defence ministry said it was proposing another special defence package worth T$210 billion ($6.66 billion) for surveillance, coastal attack and small unmanned surface drones.
Lai said China should renounce the use of force, and that Taiwan's weapons purchases send an important message to the world that it is willing to defend itself.
Taiwan "is willing to safeguard its own national security, and is also willing to share collective defence responsibilities with the international community, in order to create a deterrent effect and achieve regional peace and stability".
($1 = 31.5510 Taiwan dollars)
(Reporting by Yimou Lee and Ben Blanchard; Additional reporting by Eduardo Baptista in Beijing; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
