TAIPEI - TAIWAN'S Premier Wu Den-yih has urged China to remove missiles targeting the island to pave the way for peace talks between the formal arch-rivals, a report said on Saturday.

Beijing needed to build deeper trust with Taiwan by removing the rockets as well as allowing the island greater space in the international community, Mr Wu was quoted by the United Daily News as saying.

'We can only begin talks on a peace agreement when the two sides accumulate more mutual trust and mutual benefits, and when there is a strong consensus in Taiwan and more concrete goodwill by China.

'It is not the time to rush into any peace talks now,' he said.

China has nearly 1,500 missiles pointed at Taiwan, with no signs that the build-up is about to stop anytime soon, according to the island's defence officials.

Taiwan's missile capability is not known. It has been test-firing weapons such as the Hsiungfeng 2E surface-to-surface missile, with a range of 600km, but it remains unclear how effective it is