Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense announced Saturday that its radars had detected the test-firing of Chinese missiles near its territory.
The “multiple waves of test launches” were reportedly conducted in China’s far northern region of Inner Mongolia more than 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) from the self-ruled island.
According to the ministry, Beijing’s Rocket Force facilitated the tests.
It was not immediately clear if the activity had anything to do with China’s growing pressure on Taipei, but the small island nation still put its air defense forces on alert.
China views Taiwan as part of its territory and said it will not commit to abandoning the use of force to reunite it with the mainland.
Rehearsing an Invasion?
The recent missile activity was detected after Beijing released an unsettling video simulation of how it would invade Taiwan.
The video showed a barrage of missiles launched simultaneously from land, sea, and air.
It appeared that the Taiwanese cities of Taipei, Hualien, and Kaohsiung would be the likely targets of initial attacks.
PLA releases video simulating an all-out attack on Taiwan https://t.co/CapwDFZyds pic.twitter.com/igD0B5Rfby
— Taiwan News (@TaiwanNewsEN) May 25, 2024
In August 2022, China also fired missiles into the waters near Taiwan in response to the visit of then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
It has further increased its military pressure since the inauguration of Taiwan President Lai Ching-te in May.
