The United States’ elite Seal Team 6 has reportedly been training for missions to assist Taiwan if it is invaded by China.

The clandestine US Navy commando unit, known globally for its raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan in 2011, is said to be planning and training for a potential Taiwan conflict for more than a year at its Dam Neck base in Virginia.

The secret training exercises by the Navy special forces team, tasked with some of the military’s most sensitive and difficult missions, appear to be part of a wider deterrence strategy to give China pause for thought about the high costs of trying to forcibly seize the democracy of 23.5 million.

The reports from the Financial Times emerged as China warned it would “crush” any foreign forces who enter what it considers its sovereign territory, which includes much of the South China Sea and Taiwan.

On Thursday, a senior Beijing military official said on the sidelines of a defence forum: “If the United States moves its pawns behind the scenes, if it pushes countries to the front line, or if the United States itself ends up on the front line, then we in the Chinese People’s Liberation Army… will never have any patience.

“We in the Chinese People’s Liberation Army will resolutely crush any foreign hostile encroachment on China’s territorial, sovereign and maritime rights and interests with firm determination, staunch will, strong capability and effective means.”