Taiwan arms developers said Tuesday that new surface-to-air missiles would defend its airspace for "up to 20 years" as it aims to update weaponry to counter a perceived military threat from China.

Production of the Tienkung III (Sky Bow III), the most advanced model in a line of locally-developed air defense missiles, is slated to last from 2015 until 2024.

A leading dissident who fled China after pro-democracy protests were crushed in 1989 said Monday he would stand for Taiwan's parliament in hopes of dealing a "big blow" to Beijing.

Wuer Kaixi, who has been barred from the mainland since fleeing after the bloody Tiananmen crackdown, said he was looking forward to the opportunity to stand in a by-election early next year.

Taiwan's cabinet resigned en masse Monday after the ruling party suffered a massive defeat at the island's biggest ever local elections.

The Beijing-friendly Kuomintang (KMT) had their power slashed across Taiwan at the key polls Saturday, with Premier Jiang Yi-huah quitting hours after the disastrous result -- seen as a key barometer ahead of the 2016 presidential race.

Taiwan's warmer relations with China were called into question Sunday after the island's Beijing-friendly ruling party suffered a massive defeat at local elections, sparking the resignation of premier Jiang Yi-huah.

The major rout came as the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party struggles to combat public fears over growing Chinese influence, as well as a slowing economy and a string of food scandals.

Taiwan's premier resigned Saturday after his Beijing-friendly ruling party suffered a landslide defeat at the island's biggest ever local elections, as public fears grow over China's increasing influence.

In a brief resignation speech, Jiang Yi-huah said that he took "political responsibility" for the heavy losses suffered by the Kuomintang (KMT) party. 

With public fears of Chinese influence growing, a slowing economy and a series of food scandals, Taiwan's ruling party is facing a rough ride in the island's biggest ever local elections -- seen as a barometer for the 2016 presidential race.

Campaigning is well under way with almost 20,000 candidates contesting a record 11,130 seats, and analysts predict the Beijing-friendly Kuomintang government will take a serious knock.

The body parts of several babies have been found in a parcel destined for the United States, Thai police said Sunday.

A baby's head, several feet and "sheets of skin" -- including one taken from an adult and bearing a large tattoo -- were discovered Saturday after staff at a Bangkok parcel company scanned the package.

Taiwanese prosecutors Thursday indicted 60 people over the fatal beating of a policeman outside a nightclub, the largest number of people ever charged with murder and assault in one case on the island.

Detective Hsueh Chen-kuo, 38, was assaulted by dozens of people on September 14 when he went to the club in a shopping district in Taipei to handle a disturbance, police said.

China's president on Sunday reminded a senior Taiwanese envoy of Beijing's opposition to independence for the island, state media reported, after several recent disputes which have overshadowed improved ties.

Xi Jinping met former Taiwanese vice president Vincent Siew on the sidelines of an Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Beijing.

Taiwan's defense minister visited a disputed island in the South China Sea Wednesday, the first such trip by a Taiwanese military chief for more than five years, amid growing tensions in the region.

Yen Ming, together with two legislators and several reporters, flew to Taiping, a Taiwan-administered island which is part of the Spratlys -- a chain also claimed in whole or in part by China, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines and Brunei.