China's military vowed Sunday to tighten its "noose" around Taiwan if separatism on the island escalated, warning independence proponents to step back from the "precipice".
Beijing considers the self-ruled island of Taiwan to be part of its territory and has not ruled out using military force to claim it.
China has increased pressure on Taiwan's authorities in recent years with military drills and frequent dispatches of fighter jets and naval vessels around the island.
"The more rampant 'Taiwan independence' separatists become, the tighter the noose around their necks and the sharper the sword hanging over their heads will be," army spokesman Wu Qian said in an interview published by state broadcaster CCTV.
"The PLA is a force of action in countering separatism and promoting reunification," said Wu, using an acronym for China's military.
"You've ridden your steed to a precipice of a cliff, but behind you lies land -- if you persist in taking the wrong course, you will meet a dead end," he warned, according to AFP.
The comments, made during China's "Two Sessions" annual political gathering, come days after Beijing announced a 7.2 percent increase to its defense budget in 2025.
The increase, the same percentage as in 2024, will drive the rapid modernization of China's armed forces as strategic competition with the United States intensifies.
It is above the government's annual GDP growth target of around five percent.
Calling the increase "limited... reasonable and stable", Wu said the extra cash would be used to develop "combat forces in new fields and with new qualities", and to enhance reconnaissance, joint strike and battlefield support capabilities.
- Second to the US -
China's military spending has been on the rise for decades, broadly in line with economic growth.
The country has the world's second-largest defense budget, but lags well behind the United States, its primary strategic rival.
Beijing's 1.78-trillion-yuan ($245.7-billion) budget for this year is still less than a third of Washington's.
Military spending last year made up 1.6 percent of its GDP, far less than the United States or Russia, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
But its defense expansion is viewed with suspicion by Washington, as well as other powers in the region.
China has increasingly flexed its muscles in the region, including in the South China Sea, which it claims almost entirely despite an international arbitration ruling that declared its stance baseless.
China describes its military stance as "defensive" and aimed at preserving its sovereignty.
China faces "one of the most complex neighboring security situations in the world", army spokesman Wu said, adding that it had to deal with "severe challenges" in defending its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
But its sweeping territorial claims over areas controlled by other governments have raised fears of a regional clash.
Taiwan is a potential flashpoint for a war between China and the United States, which is the island's most important backer and biggest arms supplier.
On Friday, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi told a press conference that Taiwan coming under China's control was the "shared hope of all Chinese people, the general trend of the time, and a righteous cause".
"Using Taiwan to control China is just like trying to stop a car with the arm of a mantis," he said.
Last month, Taiwan's Ministry of Defense condemned China for holding "live-fire" exercises to the island's south. Beijing defended the drills as "routine".
