IN AN UNPRECEDENTED move, China fired a series of CSS-6/M-9 intermediate-range ballistic missiles out into the South China Sea at a 18.5km (10nm)-wide target area, 140km north of Taiwan. The week-long testing started 21 July, with the firing of two M-9s from Leping, in Jiangxi province, 480km away
The testing comes at a time of heightened political tension between China and Taiwan. According to the Taiwan defence ministry, the tests have coincided with large-scale military air-sea exercises, including the deployment of additional Shenyang J-8 fighters to the Nanjing Military Region facing Taiwan.
Source: Flight International
