BEIJING: It is "arrogant and ignorant" to call Taiwan a country and its future can only be decided by China's 1.4 billion people, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Thursday (May 22) in a rebuff to the democratically-governed island's foreign minister. China views Taiwan as its own territory and says the island is one of its provinces with no right to be called a state. It has stepped up military and political pressure to assert those claims, including increasing the intensity of war games.