China's president says security situation 'uncertain,' urges military preparedness

China's President Xi Jinping has called on the country's military to be prepared to confront any threat in a "largely uncertain" security environment.

"The current security situation of our country is largely unstable and uncertain," President Xi said during a panel discussion attended by armed forces representatives on Tuesday. "The entire military must coordinate the relationship between capacity building and combat readiness, be prepared to respond to a variety of complex and difficult situations at any time."

He said the Chinese armed forces needed to gear up to "resolutely safeguard national sovereignty, security, and development interests, and provide strong support for the comprehensive construction of a modern socialist state."

The Chinese president's remarks come amid simmering tensions between Beijing and the new US administration. And they follow a series of similar remarks by top officials.

The president himself said last week that the United States was the "biggest threat" to China's economic and political growth and stability.

And General Xu Qiliang, the second-in-command of the Chinese Armed Forces after the president, on Friday called for an increased defense budget in the face of tensions with the United States and India.

Separately, Chinese Defense Minister General Wei Fenghe said on Saturday that the nation's armed forces needed to enhance their combat preparedness, warning that China's national security had "entered a high-risk phase."

"We are facing mounting tasks in national defense… and we must comprehensively improve military training and preparedness for battle so as to increase our strategic capabilities to prevail over our strong enemies," Wei said.

Ties between Washington and Beijing particularly soured under former US president Donald Trump, who clashed with China on trade, technology, and regional security, among other things.

The US regularly dispatches warships and warplanes to the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait. China claims sovereignty over nearly the entire sea and is opposed to the deployments to the strait, which are made to support the secessionist government in Taipei.

Last week, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi called on US President Joe Biden to reverse the former administration's policies on Taiwan.

"We urge the new US administration to fully understand the high sensitivity of the Taiwan issue," Wang said, urging the State Department to "change the previous administration's dangerous practices of 'crossing the line' and 'playing with fire.'"

Biden has not signaled a shift in US posturing vis-à-vis Beijing.

China is also involved in a border dispute with India.

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