She made the remark in her speech to mark Taiwan's National Day to give a fitting reply to China's President Xi Jinping's comment to "fulfil reunification".

In her speech on Sunday, she said Taiwan was "standing on democracy's first line of defence", reports BBC.

She said the island would not "act rashly" but would bolster its defences to "ensure that nobody can force Taiwan to take the path China has laid out for us".

That path, she said, offered "neither a free and democratic way of life for Taiwan nor sovereignty" for its 23 million people.

"The more we achieve, the greater the pressure we face from China," she was quoted as saying by BBC.

Taiwan considers itself as a sovereign nation while China sees it as a breakaway province.