On Sunday, just a day before the 95th-anniversary celebrations to mark the founding of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), China conducted a test launch of its Dong Feng-17 (DF-17) medium-range hypersonic missile. Video footage of the live-fire launch, which took place at the Pingtan Islands, some 120 km (74 miles) from the Taiwanese coast, has been shared across social media.
The display of force was almost certainly in response to the then-potential visit of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan. She was already scheduled to visit four other Asian-Pacific nations and arrived on the self-governing island on Tuesday evening – becoming the first House Speaker to set foot in the sovereign nation since Newt Gingrich a quarter of a century ago in 1997.
www.19fortyfive.com/2022/08/taiwan-wants-hypersonic-missiles/