China has deployed missiles on disputed island, Taiwan says

China has deployed surface-to-air missiles on a disputed island in the South China Sea, Taiwan said on Wednesday, as Beijing insisted it had a right to build “self-defence” systems in the strategic region. Taiwan’s defence ministry confirmed the facility’s existence after Fox News reported missile launchers had arrived on Woody Island, part of the Paracels chain, in the past week.

The report came as President Barack Obama called for “tangible steps” to reduce tensions in the region.

Beijing has controlled all of the Paracels, which are also claimed by Hanoi and Taipei, since seizing several from South Vietnam in a brief, bloody battle towards the end of the Vietnam War. But tensions in the sea — through which one-third of the world’s oil passes — have mounted in recent months since China transformed contested reefs in the Spratly islands further south into artificial islands capable of supporting military facilities.

Washington says the move threatens free passage in a strategically vital area and has sent warships to sail close to the disputed islands to assert that right. Analysts said the latest deployment could be an attempt to deter such freedom of navigation operations (FONOPs). Australian military aircraft also routinely overfly the area.

Fox News said on Tuesday that images showed two batteries of eight missile launchers and a radar system had arrived on Woody Island, the Paracels’ main island.

“The defence ministry has learned of an air defence missile system deployed by the Chinese communists on Yongxing Island,” a Taiwan defence ministry spokesman told AFP. After meeting his Australian counterpart Julie Bishop, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi described the reports as “an attempt by certain western media to create news stories”. He did not explicitly deny the deployment, but urged more attention on “the lighthouses we have built on some of the islands and reefs in the South China Sea”.

“Self-defence facilities that China has built on the islands,” Wang said, “are consistent with the right to self-preservation and self-protection that China is entitled to under international law”.

China established the tiny city of Sansha on Woody Island in 2012 to administer a wide swathe of waters and islands, creating an oddity that is by far the world’s largest city by area but has a minuscule population of around 1,000 people.

In 2014, the country added a military airstrip to the island, saying it would “greatly improve Chinese defence capabilities”. In the Spratlys, China has set up runways capable of accommodating military aircraft on its newly-built islands, and is believed to have installed radar towers.

The Fox News report was based on pictures from ImageSat International, which earlier this week released images said to show reclamation work in the Paracels. The missiles appeared to be the HQ-9 air defence system, with a range of about 200km (125 miles), according to reports.

Experts said they could be used to target enemy aircraft, and Kevin Cheng, editor-in-chief of the Taipei-based Asia-Pacific Defense Magazine, told AFP: “The ... HQ-9 ... could exacerbate the nerves of neighbouring countries, particularly Vietnam. “The military deployment could be seen to violate the US call for free navigation in the area and allow it more excuse to interfere in affairs there,” he added.