China firmly opposes Taiwan joining UN: Official

China today opposed Taiwan's reported plans to join the UN saying only "sovereign states" can apply for a membership of the top world body and the communist-nation is firmly opposed to any attempts by Taipei to seek independence.
China firmly opposes any acts or words supporting "Taiwan independence," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said in response to a question about Taiwan's possible application for UN membership.
He was reacting to reports from Taipei that Tsai Ming Shian, a senior member of the "Taiwan United Nations Alliance," asked Taiwan's new President Tsai Ing-Wen to write to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to apply for membership last week.

It is known to all that the UN is an inter-governmental organisation consisting of sovereign states.
"Only a sovereign state can apply for a membership," Lu told a media briefing here.
There is only one China in the world, and Taiwan is a part of China,Lu said.

The Chinese government and people firmly oppose any form of "Taiwan independence" secessionist activities, Lu said.
"Any attempt to challenge the 'one-China policy' or create 'two Chinas' or 'one China, one Taiwan' will not succeed," he said.
China claims Taiwan as part of the mainland never recognised Taiwan's estrangement in 1949.
Taiwan, which enjoys close ties with US has been carrying out military buildup to deter any threat from China. Relations between the two sides which showed significant improvement in recent years took a hit after election of Tsai defeating Ma Ying-Jeou who promoted normalisation of ties between the two sides in recent election.

China has scaled down the normalisation process since then.