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TAIPEI, April 10 (Reuters) \u2013 Taiwanese officials are tracking what they view as a worrying rise in Chinese naval activity and military pressure<\/a> against the island, even as \u200bBeijing presses a message of\u00a0peace and cooperation<\/a>\u00a0in meetings with Taiwan\u2019s opposition leader.<\/p>\n China\u2019s tactics are all the more unnerving for the Taipei government, given the \u200copposition continues to stymie a defense spending rise that Washington has pushed for. The buildup also comes at a time when the US is focused on the\u00a0conflict in the Middle East<\/a>\u00a0and President Donald Trump is readying for\u00a0a May meeting<\/a>\u00a0with China\u2019s Xi Jinping.<\/p>\n \u201cChina is continuously and persistently expanding its military capabilities, and the military threat it poses to us is becoming increasingly severe,\u201d Taiwan Defense Minister Wellington Koo told lawmakers on Thursday amid \u200banger among the ruling party over the decision by members of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) to skip talks on stalled defense spending.<\/a><\/p>\n Taiwan has to show its determination to defend itself to \u200bthe US and other like-minded partners, he added.<\/p>\n \u201cBut the most frightening scenario is \u2014 if all of our international allies were to question whether \u2060we have such resolve, what would we face? I cannot imagine it.\u201d<\/p>\n China views Taiwan as one of its provinces and has never renounced the use of force to bring the \u200bisland under its control<\/a>. Taiwan\u2019s government rejects Beijing\u2019s sovereignty claims and says only the island\u2019s people can decide their future.<\/p>\n