Defence minister Dong Jun on Sunday said Beijing is committed to a peaceful reunification, calling the Taiwan issue a “core of core interests” for China.

Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue conference in Singapore, Dong said the island’s Democratic Progressive Party was “pursuing separation in an incremental way” and was “bent on erasing the Chinese identity of Taiwan”.

“China stays committed to peaceful reunification, however, this prospect is increasingly being eroded by separatists for ‘Taiwan independence’ and foreign forces. The danger of national division is still there,” he said.

”The Chinese People’s Liberation Army will remain a strong force for upholding national reunification. We will take resolute actions to curb ‘Taiwan independence‘ and make sure such a plot never succeeds.“

“Anyone who dares to separate Taiwan from China will only end up in self destruction,” he added.

Separately, Dong told the security conference that China's military wants more military exchanges with the United States. His comments came after the first face-to-face talks in eighteen months between Chinese and US defence chiefs.

The minister acknowledged that many countries were closely monitoring Beijing's relationship with Washington.

"As we see it, it is because the two militaries have differences that there is a greater need for communication," he said.

"Even though we have different development paths, we should not pursue confrontation with each other."