Such interference from Beijing was "one of the greatest challenges" the island faces, Tsai said in her New Year address.

Local elections in November in which her Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was heavily defeated showed how the Taiwanese had graded her party's performance, Tsai said.

"However, it never means that the Taiwanese people intend to give up our sovereignty or to make concessions on autonomy," she continued.

Tsai resigned as chair of the pro-independence DPP after it won just six out of 22 local authorities while the China-friendly Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) took 15 cities and counties.

"In Taiwan, people have been seriously disturbed by China-sourced fake news and misinformation which have become overwhelming," Tsai said, adding that the government would soon come up with strategies to tackle them.

She also criticized newly elected local mayors for establishing city-level economic exchanges with Chinese cities. This should have been done "properly rather than compulsively," she said.

The exchanges require Taiwan authorities to accept the so-called 1992 Consensus, which recognizes a one-China principle.

Tsai reiterated that Beijing should respect the commitment of the Taiwanese to democracy and reinstate communications soon. China cut off all official communication with Taiwan in June 2016, one month after Tsai took office.

Taiwan has had its own government since 1949, when Chinese nationalists fled there after losing a civil war to communists. Beijing considers the self-ruled democracy part of its territory.

Australian Associated Press