China has advocated peaceful reunification with Taiwan, but does not rule out the use of force

He said this at the Shangri-La Dialogue security conference in Singapore.

"China must be and will be reunited. This is in line with the aspirations of the people and the trend of our time. We will sincerely strive for the prospects of peaceful reunification and will make the greatest efforts for this, but we do not promise to abandon the use of force, "said Li Shanfu, quoted by TASS.

If someone dares to separate Taiwan from China, then the PRC military will not hesitate for a second, the minister stressed.

"We will not be afraid of adversaries and will resolutely defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity, whatever the cost," he said.

The root cause of tensions in the Taiwan Strait is the Taipei administration's attempts to enlist foreign support, Li said, adding that some foreign forces are trying to contain China with the help of Taiwan.

Earlier, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said that the Pentagon should stop maintaining inter-army contacts with Taiwan in order to avoid a re-escalation of tensions.