LogFAQs > #932929814

"We don't have a need to declare ourselves an independent state," the 63-year-old president told the BBC in an exclusive interview, her first since the election.
"We are an independent country already and we call ourselves the Republic of China, Taiwan."

"We have a separate identity and we're a country of our own. So, if there's anything that runs counter to this idea, they will stand up and say that's not acceptable to us.

"We're a successful democracy, we have a pretty decent economy, we deserve respect from China."

But she says she has shown restraint. She has, for example, stopped short of the formal declaration of independence - amending the constitution and changing the flag - that some in her Democratic Progressive Party would like.