A senior Chinese military official has warned that war with the United States under the presidency of Donald Trump is a practical reality and not just a slogan.

The Chinese official’s remarks were published on the website of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

Reports in the Chinese media cited the official from the National Defence Mobilisation Commission as having said, “A war ‘within the president’s term’ or ‘war breaking out tonight’ are not just slogans, they are becoming a practical reality.”

According to report, the official also called for military deployments in the tense South and East China Seas and for a missile defence system to guard the Korean peninsula.

Trump has alienated Beijing by ignoring the United States’ ‘One China’ policy and publicly engaging with the President of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has also backed a US naval blockade of artificial Chinese islands in the South China Sea.