BEIJING, Aug 1 (Reuters) - China called its growing military strength a force for peace and Communist Party rule on the 80th anniversary of the People's Liberation Army on Wednesday, even while a senior commander warned Taiwan not to risk war.

The anniversary has brought a crescendo of propaganda seeking to advertise China's growing military confidence but also counter Western claims that the PLA threatens regional stability.

"The People's Liberation Army shoulders an historic mission in this new historic period," said an editorial in the People's Daily, the ruling Communist Party's official newspaper.

"It provides a staunch security protection for our country's development in an important strategic period ... and plays a major role in protecting world peace."

The editorial also said the military was an "important force" to ensure the party's grip on power. In 1989, troops fired on demonstrators in Beijing demanding democratic change.

On Wednesday, Chinese President Hu Jintao led party leaders -- including his retired predecessor Jiang Zemin -- to mark the military's anniversary at a meeting in Beijing.

SUBORDINATE TO PARTY

Yang Liwei, China's first astronaut, told the meeting, which was broadcast live on state television, that the PLA was subordinate to the Communist Party.

"We must obey the party's command and always uphold the absolute leadership of the party over the army," he said.

China is keen to dispel concerns in Washington that its growing arms budget is far from transparent and that Beijing's rising military spending may destabilise East Asia.

In March, China said it would boost defence spending by 17.8 percent to about $45 billion this year, but a Pentagon report in May said Beijing's total military-related spending could more than double that.

China and the United States have long sparred over the nature of China's military development, with Washington saying it is trying to project its growing power and Beijing maintaining that its armed forces are geared towards self-defence only.

Taiwan, the self-ruled, democratic island China views as its own, has also been worried by the build-up. Beijing has vowed to bring Taiwan under its rule, by force if necessary.

China and Taiwan have faced off since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949, when Nationalist forces retreated to the island after losing to the Communists.

The anniversary also brought a reminder that preventing Taiwan's full independence remains the Chinese military's key mission.

"The peaceful development of cross-Strait ties accords with the common wishes of compatriots on both sides," Defence Minister Cao Gangchuan was quoted by the semi-official China News Service as telling an anniversary reception on Tuesday.

But he added: "We have the determination, the ability and are prepared to stop Taiwan independence and serious incidents which Taiwan independence may bring".