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| HQ-9 Surface-to-Air Missile Launcher |
China confirmed it has weapons on a disputed island in the South China Sea, state media said Thursday, as criticism grew over Beijing's increased "militarisation" of the strategically vital region.
The US and Taiwan both said China had placed missiles on Woody Island, part of the Paracels chain, after Fox News reported the surface-to-air weapons had arrived there in the past week.
Beijing confirmed the presence of "weapons" on the island, reported the Global Times newspaper, which has close ties with the ruling Communist party, but stopped short of acknowledging there had been a new missile deployment, saying defence measures there were "nothing new".
Vice Admiral Alexander Lopez, the commander of Philippine military forces assigned to guard the country's interests in the South China Sea, outlined the potential regional consequences of the reported Chinese action.
"The stability of the region is being threatened because of the deployment of those kinds of weapons," he said Thursday.
"You don't deploy those types of weapons unless you intend to use them," he added.
China claims all of the Paracels, though Hanoi and Taipei have overlapping claims.
Read the full story at SpaceDaily