China's President Hu Jintao (L) waves while other new Politburo Standing Committee Members line up at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing October 22, 2007. (UPI Photo/Stephen Shaver)

Hu said in a New Year's message China will "resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity," Xinhua reported.

In the past, the Chinese government, which claims Taiwan as its own, has warned it would take "necessary measures" if the island nation continued to push for independence

The Taiwanese government wants to hold a referendum next year on whether its people want to join the Untited Nations under the name "Taiwan" instead of "Republic of China," which was the nation's formal name when it was a U.N. member until its expulsion in 1971 in favor of China.

China sees the referendum as a Taiwanese ploy to move toward independence.

Hu also called for people of all nations to "live under the same blue sky freely, equally, harmoniously and happily."