China will exert utmost efforts to realise "peaceful reunification" with Taiwan, its foreign ministry said on Monday, after the Chinese foreign minister declared last week that the island would never be "a country".

The Chinese People's Liberation Army is warning against the escalation of separatist activities in Taiwan. A spokesperson for the army announced that they would tighten the noose around the island in case of further provocations.

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".