China's military threat against Taiwan is bigger than ever, the island's defence ministry said Tuesday, despite three years of efforts by Taipei to pursue detente with the mainland.

In its national defence report, published every other year, the ministry summarised mounting endeavours by China to boost its already impressive military capabilities.

"The People's Liberation Army has continued to deploy various new weapons in the Fujian and Guangdong areas," the report said, referring to two Chinese provinces located close to the west of Taiwan.

The report singled out "the enhancement of its long-distance combat projection capabilities", an apparent reference to more than 1,000 ballistic missiles deployed along the Chinese coastline.

"This indicates that the Chinese communists have not altered their thinking of military threat and invasion," it said.

Ties between Taipei and Beijing have improved markedly since 2008 after Ma Ying-jeou of the China-friendly Kuomintang party was elected president of Taiwan on a platform of improving mainland ties, chiefly via economic measures.

Even so, Beijing refuses to abandon the possibility of taking Taiwan by force, even though the island has ruled itself since 1949, when the two sides split at the end of a civil war.

The report said the Chinese air force has deployed new-generation fighter jets at airbases along the mainland's southeastern coastline, defended by new long-distance air defence missiles.

The Chinese military is capable of imposing a blockade of Taiwan and taking Taiwan-controlled offshore islands by force, the report warned.

"With the military expecting to keep tipping balance in favour of the People's Liberation Army in the years ahead, the military threat towards Taiwan will be getting worse in the future," it said.

The report said that in the 20 years to 2009, China's military spending has maintained double-digit growth nearly every year, with total spending ranking first in Asia and threatening other countries in the region.

China's military spending in 2011 is budgeted at 601.1 billion yuan ($93 billion), up 12.7 percent over a year ago, it said, citing official mainland statistics.

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