A top national security official yesterday said China had begun deploying a new long-range ballistic missile aimed at Taiwan, adding that the missile’s destructive capacity went beyond that of the current missiles in China’s arsenal.

National Security Bureau (NSB) Director Tsai Der-sheng (蔡得勝) told the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee that in addition to deploying the Dong Feng-16 (DF-16), the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) was also now fielding the DF-21, also known as the “aircraft carrier killer,” which could put any US Navy vessels coming to Taiwan’s assistance at great risk.