Defence ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng said Friday that Beijing would agree to talks with Taiwan on military security "at a proper time" with an eye on trust-building, according to an official press conference transcript.

"This can be pushed forward step-by-step -- first on easy issues, and then hard ones," he said.

The spokesman was quoted by the Nanfang Daily as saying after the formal briefing that the issue of China's missile deployment could be included in the future talks.

Geng however cautioned that such an offer was conditional on Taiwan's acceptance of the "one-China principle". Beijing sees the island as part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.

Taipei -- for which the "one-China principle" means surrendering its sovereignty to Beijing -- rejected the suggestion, with Premier Wu Den-yih quoted in the press as saying: "We cannot possibly agree to what he said."

Taiwan again called on Beijing to pursue peace through dialogue and remove the missiles.

"This is the government's established policy and we'll continue conveying the thought to Beijing," the Mainland Affairs Council, which handles relations with China, said in a statement.

Lo Chih-chiang, Taiwan's presidential office spokesman, blasted the missile deployment and demanded that they be removed.

"Despite the fast improved ties over the past two years, China still targets Taiwan with more than 1,000 missiles. This picture is incongruous, and those missiles have hurt the feelings of Taiwan's people," he said.

Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou has repeatedly urged Beijing to remove the ballistic missiles, insisting Taipei is unlikely to conduct talks on political relations under the perceived military threat from Beijing.

China's Global Times -- which is published by the Communist Party mouthpiece the People's Daily -- said in an editorial Monday that Taiwan's reaction was "not completely surprising".

"When it comes to building military trust, the sombre reality is that there is still a long way to go," the newspaper said.

It said the new proposal was "meant to reassure the people in Taiwan of their growing security, and also to give another push toward warming up cross-Strait relations", but warned points of contention remained.

"The deployment of missiles is to deter those die-hard Taiwan separatists," it said.

Military experts estimate that China has more than 1,600 missiles aimed at Taiwan. The island's deputy defence ministry told AFP last month that the figure could rise to 1,900 by year's end.

Taiwan and China split at the end of a bloody civil war in 1949.

Ma's Kuomintang administration is more China-friendly than that of his predecessor Chen Shui-bian, and since he took office in 2008 relations between the two former arch-rivals have improved significantly.

In June, the two sides signed the historic Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), their most sweeping accord to date.

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