China has deployed surface-to-air missiles on a disputed island in the South China Sea, Taiwan says.
Satellite images taken on 14 February appear to show two batteries of eight missile launchers and a radar system on Woody or Yongxing Island in the Paracels.
The presence of missiles would significantly increase tensions in the acrimonious South China Sea dispute.
China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said reports were a Western media invention.
But Mr Wang defended "the limited and necessary self-defence facilities" on islands inhabited by Chinese personnel as "consistent with the right for self-preservation and self-protection.... under the international law".
Asked about the reports, US Secretary of State John Kerry attacked China's increased "militarisation" of the contested region, saying it was a "serious concern".

Taiwan's defence ministry said it had "learned of an air defence missile system deployed" by the Chinese on Woody Island.
It would not say how many missiles had been deployed or when, but told the BBC they would be capable of targeting civilian and military aircraft.

The commander of the US Pacific Fleet confirmed the deployment to Reuters news agency.
Adm Harry Harris said such a move would be "a militarisation of the South China Sea in ways" China's President Xi Jinping had pledged not to make.
Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said there were "serious concerns" over China's "unilateral move to change the status quo" in the region, and "we cannot accept this fact".
China has been carrying out extensive land reclamation work in the region, which it says is legal and for civilian purposes.
But the work has angered other countries which also claim the territory, and there is growing concern about the implications of the area becoming militarised.

BBC