Taipei, 4 August 2022 (dpa/MIA) - Taiwan's Defence Ministry has confirmed that China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) fired "several Tongfeng-class guided missiles" into waters north-east and south-west of the island on Thursday afternoon. A ministry spokesperson said shortly that Taiwan's armed forces had tracked the firings in real time after they were detected at 1:56 pm (0556 GMT) and had activated related defence systems. The ministry condemned "this irrational action that is undermining regional peace." The confirmation by the Defence Ministry appeared to be one of the first indications that China had actually commenced "live-fire" air and sea military drills as previously announced by the PLA's Eastern Theatre Command of "joint training drills" in six areas surrounding Taiwan.