Taiwan on alert over 'multiple waves' of missile firing in inland China

Taipei (Reuters): Taiwan's Defence Ministry said on Sunday it was on alert after detecting "multiple waves" of missile firing deep in inland China, days after Beijing said it had carried out a successful test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Democratically governed Taiwan, which China views as its own territory, keeps a close watch on Chinese military drills given Beijing's regular activities around the island, but only rarely releases details of what it sees taking place inside China.

The ministry said that starting from 6:50 a.m. (2250 GMT on Saturday) it had detected "multiple waves of firing" by China's Rocket Force and army in the provinces and regions of Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Qinghai and Xinjiang, which all lie at least 2,000 km (1,200 miles) from Taiwan.

Taiwan's forces are "continuously monitoring relevant developments, and air defence forces have maintained a high level of vigilance and strengthened their alert", the ministry added in a statement.

China's Defence Ministry did not answer calls seeking comment outside of office hours. The Rocket Force is in charge of China's conventional and nuclear missile arsenal.

On Thursday, Taiwan's Defence Ministry raised the alarm over a renewed surge of Chinese military activity around the island and live fire drills, accusing Beijing of policy instability.

China's military responded by saying its activities around Taiwan were "legitimate" and its drills would continue.

A day earlier, China said it had successfully conducted a rare launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM, into the Pacific Ocean.

In August 2022, China fired missiles into the waters around Taiwan during war games to express anger at a visit to Taipei by then-Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi.

Taiwan operates powerful radar stations on some of the peaks of its central mountain range that can look far into China, according to security sources.