China sees Taiwan's push to ramp up its defence this year as an act of defiance. It has enraged Beijing, which claims the self-ruled island as its own territory. "Any sinister schemes to obstruct China's reunification are doomed to fail," the ministry's spokesman Lin Jian said at a regular press briefing on Monday.

In a post on Weibo, as reported by the BBC, the Chinese military's Eastern Theater Command, which is in charge of the Taiwan Strait, described the upcoming military exercise as a "shield of justice."