The live-fire drill comes as Taipei is expanding its missile arsenal despite repeated warnings from Beijing

Taiwan has launched approximately 36 US-supplied missiles into the water off the coast of mainland China, in a first-of-its-kind live-fire drill on the self-governing island's west coast.

The exercise comes amid mounting tensions between Taipei and Beijing, which considers Taiwan sovereign Chinese territory.

The drills took place on Wednesday and involved the firing of reduced-range training rockets from US-made High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) into the Taiwan Strait.

According to Taipei, the exercise was meant to simulate an attack on an invading Chinese force and demonstrate HIMARS' ability to "shoot-and-scoot" by avoiding counter strikes.

HIMARS has a range of up to around 300 km, meaning it could potentially hit targets in China's southeastern Fujian Province across the strait.

Taiwan has ordered 29 HIMARS launchers from the US and has also been building up anti-ship and air defense systems.

Chinese officials have repeatedly condemned US arms sales to Taipei as interference in China's internal affairs and a violation of the decades-old One-China policy. While Washington does not officially recognize Taiwan as an independent state, it has maintained close unofficial ties with Taipei and remains its main arms supplier.

During his meeting with US President Donald Trump in Beijing last month, Chinese President Xi Jinping described Taiwan as the most important issue in China-US relations and warned that mishandling it could push the two countries into "a very dangerous situation."

Beijing considers Taiwan part of China and has consistently warned against separatism on the island. Xi has repeatedly said Beijing seeks peaceful reunification, but has refused to rule out the use of force if provoked.

(RT.com)