Beijing has installed anti-ship cruise and surface-to-air missiles in the Spratly islands west of the Philippines, the Chinese foreign ministry has confirmed. Intelligence assessments say the missile platforms were moved to the outposts in the strategic Spratly Islands within the past 30 days. The land-based anti-ship cruise missiles, designated as YJ-12B, allow China to strike surface vessels within 295 nautical miles while the long-range surface-to-air missiles designated as HQ-9B have a range of 160 nautical miles, CNBC reported.