China has positioned an arsenal of advanced medium-range ballistic missiles at Taiwan as its army heads prepare for "military hard power" and as part of a growing military threat to the island, Taipei's defense minister said on Monday.

China's DF-16 ballistic missiles, which could aim at "pinpoint precision" from 1,500 km away, is capable of targeting Taiwan and has been deployed by the Rocket Force of the People's Liberation Army (PLA).

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According to military experts, the DF-16 is capable of striking the US military bases in Okinawa and has a range of between 1,000 and 1,500 km (600 and 900 miles). The missile could also carry two or more warheads to perform multi-target attacks.

Such shocking revelation was made by Chinese defense minister Feng Shih-kuan a week after Taiwan revealed that its missiles are capable of striking mainland China.

Feng said on Monday that the missiles will strengthen China's "weapons modernization and military hard power." Although the minister did not specify the number and location of missiles to be deployed, Taiwan estimate the figure at 1,500 missiles.

Feng also commented on Taiwan's recent threat, he said: "We are confident in our surveillance to detect any unfriendly action towards us. We have sufficient weaponry to shoot it down outside our territory."

Just last week, Taiwan publicly claimed for the first time that it is capable of launching missiles that will hit China. Ties between Taiwan and China have grown cold after elected president Tsai Ing-wen ended the eight-year rapprochement.

China still considers Taiwan as part of its territory and is willing to bring it back in its fold. This is in spite the fact that the island has been self-governing after the two sides split in a civil war in 1949.

TagsTaiwan, china, missiles, cruise missiles, South China Sea