Wu made the remarks as he received a delegation consisting of California State Assembly leaders at his office recently.

Wu thanked the assembly for passing a resolution in 2004 in support of Taiwan's bid to join the World Health Organization (WHO).

Wu said that many Taiwanese elites received a higher education in the U.S. and therefore have special feeling towards the country.

Noting that both Taiwan and the U.S. benefit from their traditional friendship, Wu said that he will continue to strengthen bilateral relations.

He also pointed out that China often uses a carrot-and-stick tactics against Taiwan, making goodwill gestures while at the same time deploying missiles and submarines to target Taiwan, he stressed.

This year, China has increased its defense budget by 17.8 percent over last year, Wu said, adding that the expansion of Chinese military power poses a threat to Taiwan as well as to security in the Asia Pacific region.

In recent years, Beijing has spared no efforts in blocking Taiwan's participation in international organizations, including the United Nations and the WHO, he noted.

Taiwan is often unfairly and unjustly treated when engaging in many international activities hosted by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and private sector due to China's intervention, Wu said.

Taiwan's recent moves to replace the names of state-run enterprises bearing the term "Chinese" or "China" with "Taiwanese" or "Taiwan" has raised concerns internationally, Wu stated.

In contrast, the international community remains silent when Beijing asked organizers of many international events to force Taiwanese participants to drop the official title of Taiwan -- the Republic of China -- Wu said, stressing that this is not fair to democratically governed Taiwan.