The South China Sea island of Taiwan has been made to host anti-aircraft missiles by China. This revelation by Taiwan comes at a time when the Australian foreign minister kicked off parleys in the Chinese capital to make the Communist nation put off its maritime claims.
It has been reported that a big number of ant-aircraft missiles have been waiting in the disputed island over which China has a strong grip.
Reports talk of the missiles having been lined up on Woody Island in the Paracel group. The Taiwan military is on alert, watching carefully on what indeed is happening.
The nation has called upon the global community to try and work towards ensuring peace in the region. The Chinese strategy of giving shape to new islands by filling sand over reefs so as to build airstrips and military installations is known.
Even though the Woody Island and the other Paracels have been seeing Chinese military presence for a long time, what comes as surprising is the pace of work that China has been undertaking at the Spratly Island group, where four countries have a military presence.
It is being said that the China move is aimed at staking claim over the entire South China Sea and its resources. This development had even forced neighboring nations to knock on the US door seeking help. Countries such as The Philippines are wary of the threat and fear regional tensions shaping up.
Of late, global media have been running updates on how China has been moving surface-to-air missiles to the Paracel land. It has been reported that two batteries of the HQ-9 system and radar targeting arrays have been deployed in the region.
With the missiles boasting a range of about 200 km, a significant threat seems to be in the making.
