China, Taiwan clash over history, Beijing says can't 'invade' what is already its territory

(Reuters) - China and Taiwan have clashed over their competing interpretations of history in an escalating war of words over what Beijing views as provocations from Taiwan's government, and said it is impossible to "invade" what is already Chinese land.

China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and has stepped up military and political pressure over the past five years. China has a particular dislike of Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te, calling him a "separatist".

Lai has since Sunday given two speeches in what will be a series of ten on "uniting the country", saying that Taiwan is "of course a country" and China has no legal or historical right to claim it.

Speaking on Wednesday to European ambassadors in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said he was alarmed at Taiwan's ruling party "doing everything they can to try to move towards Taiwan independence, which is very dangerous".

Japan had "stolen" Taiwan, he said, and its return to China was agreed in the 1943 Cairo Declaration and confirmed at the 1945 Potsdam Declaration ahead of the surrender of Japan at the end of World War Two.

Taiwan had been a colony of Japan since 1895.

"So the matter is very clear, Taiwan is part of China, and the return of Taiwan to China has been one of the victorious outcomes of World War Two."

Tensions between China and Taiwan, including several rounds of Chinese war games, have raised the possibility Beijing may one day make good on threats to take Taiwan by force in a move that could ignite a regional war.

China's last war games were in April, and its air force and navy operate around Taiwan on a daily basis, sometimes using dozens of warplanes, according to the island's defence ministry.

Asked about U.S. comments on Chinese drills strengthening preparations for an attack, Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Zhu Fenglian corrected the reporter.

"Taiwan is a part of China; there is no invasion to speak of," she said at a separate briefing in Beijing on Wednesday.

Lai takes a different view on Taiwan's status and future.

In a speech late on Tuesday, he said Taiwan's future can only be decided by its people, democratically, not by a decision by any party or president, and that "Taiwan independence" refers to the island not being a part of the People's Republic of China.

The Republic of China, founded after the 1911 revolution that brought down the last emperor, fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war to Mao Zedong's communists, and that remains the island's formal name.

"How old is the Republic of China? It's 113 years old, and will be 114 years old this year. The People's Republic of China? It's only some 70 years old, right? It's simple and clear," Lai said.

To mark this year's 80th anniversary of the end of World War Two, China has invited old soldiers who fought for the Republic of China to a military parade in Beijing in early September.

Taiwan does not want them to attend, and on Wednesday its defence minister, Wellington Koo, said Beijing was trying to distort history.

"The war of resistance was led and won by the Republic of China, not the People's Republic of China - this is without a doubt," he told reporters at parliament.

What is 'Taiwan independence' and is Taiwan already independent? Read full story

(Reporting by Alessandro Diviggiano and Ben Blanchard; Additional reporting by Beijing newsroom; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Kate <ayberry)