BEIJING, August 4. /TASS/. For the first time in history, Chinese ballistic missiles flew directly above Taiwan, CCTV reported Thursday.

"The exercises included launches of missiles, which flew above the Island of Taiwan for the first time," professor of strategy at the National Defense University in Beijing, Major General Meng Xiangqing said on TV.

"They also traveled through the airspace above deployment locations of Taiwan’s Patriot missile air defenses and hit their targets in full view of the US-made Aegis missile defense systems," he said.

"This clearly demonstrated that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has already solved the issue of hitting targets in remote areas, and it reflects the significant growth of our weapons’ capabilities," he noted.

According to Meng Xiangqing, two firing areas were chosen because of naval bases located in Taiwanese port cities of Taitong, Hualien and Kaohsiung. One more area is located in the narrowest part of the Taiwan Strait near the island of Pingtan. Two more areas are located north of Taiwan, near and important port and logistics center of Jilong. The last exercise area is located near the southernmost point of Taiwan, and is being used to practice blocade of the Bashi Channel.