Chinese President Xi Jinping has said the tide of history cannot be stopped, while urging peaceful “reunification” with Taiwan.

Resolving the Taiwan question is an “unwavering historical mission” of China’s Communist Party, Xi said in a speech at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People on Thursday.

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“The tide of history ⁠⁠cannot be stopped,” Xi added.

“The complete reunification of the motherland must be realised, and it will certainly be realised.”

China views democratically governed Taiwan as ⁠⁠its own territory, despite Taipei’s strong rejection of that claim, and has repeatedly offered a “one country, two systems” model of autonomy not supported by any major Taiwanese political party.

Xi’s comments came in a speech on the 160th birthday of revolutionary hero Sun Yat-sen, who helped lead a 1911 ‌‌revolt that ended centuries of rule by emperors and empresses and ushered in the Republic of China.

Taiwan’s government dismissed the remarks.

Its Mainland Affairs Council said neither the government nor Taiwan’s people could accept “one country, two systems”, which would ultimately mean submitting to the Communist Party’s rule.

“As for the wording on Taiwan unification, it isn’t much different from the past,” council spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh told reporters.

‘One country, two systems’

Xi said China adheres to “peaceful reunification and the policy of ‘one country, two systems’” and is willing to talk to Taiwan while upholding the “one China principle”, or Beijing’s position that both sides of the Taiwan Strait are one country.

All Chinese, including those in Taiwan, should join hands to jointly oppose Taiwan independence “separatist” forces and strive for peaceful development of cross-Strait ties, Xi added.

Although Xi did not mention the use of force, which China has never renounced for Taiwan, China’s military operates around the island on a daily basis and is extending its reach further into the Pacific.

Taiwan’s defence ministry said it had detected 29 Chinese military aircraft, including J-16 fighter jets and drones, carrying out a “joint combat ⁠⁠readiness patrol” around Taiwan in conjunction with Chinese warships, starting on Thursday.

Xi’s speech comes a ⁠⁠week ahead of the APEC summit in China’s southern tech hub of Shenzhen, where he is due to again meet US President Donald Trump, and also a little more than two weeks before important local elections in Taiwan.

The Chinese president made a state visit to Washington in September, during which he told Trump to show “prudence” over Taiwan and urged the US to oppose the island’s independence.

Washington had already paused a $14bn weapons purchase by Taiwan in May, with Trump calling it a “very good negotiating chip” in dealings with China, which raised fears that Taiwan’s security could be traded away.