Taiwan National Security Bureau Director-General, Tsai Der-sheng, announced on 16 March that China has begun deploying a new pattern of ballistic missiles against Taiwan.
The announcement came during a question-and-answer session following a presentation on the country's intelligence affairs and his bureau's operations before the Foreign and National Defense Committee of the Legislative Yuan.
The designation he quoted for the missile was Dong Feng 16 (DF-16) and described this as "a new addition to the People's Liberation Army [PLA] arsenal." He said that it posed a greater threat to Taiwan "given its extended range and more powerful payload." Some DF-16 missiles were being deployed to replace older systems, he said, but others were being added to the number of ballistic missiles arrayed against Taiwan.
Tsai gave few details of the DF-16, whose existence had not previously been reported. He confirmed that this was a new missile and not an upgraded model of the earlier DF-15 (CSS-6). According to reports in the local press, he said that the DF-16 has a range of between 800 km and 1,000 km but declined to say whether it used multiple-warhead technology.
