Taipei, Nov. 12 -- Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday urged Beijing to acknowledge the continued existence of the Republic of China (ROC) and respect Taiwan's democratic system after Chinese President Xi Jinping reiterated that unification with Taiwan was inevitable, according to a report by Central News Agency (CNA).

Xi made the remarks during a ceremony in Beijing marking what China described as the 160th anniversary of the birth of Sun Yat-sen, the revolutionary leader who overthrew the Qing dynasty and established the ROC in 1912.

Sun Yat-sen is revered on both sides of the Taiwan Strait for his role in ending imperial rule. Taiwan's ROC government, which relocated to the island in 1949 after losing the Chinese Civi...