Mon 08 November 2021:
According to satellite photographs released by Maxar on Sunday, China’s military has built replicas in the shape of a US Navy aircraft carrier and other US warships in the Xinjiang desert, presumably as training targets.
As tensions between China and the United States over Taiwan and the South China Sea remain high, these mockups represent China’s ambitions to build up anti-carrier capabilities, specifically against the US Navy.
At least two Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers appear to have been built at what looks to be a new target range complex in the Taklamakan Desert, according to satellite photographs.
According to the US Naval Institute, the complex has been utilized for ballistic missile testing, citing geospatial intelligence company All Source Analysis.
According to the Pentagon’s most recent annual report on China’s military, the PLARF fired six DF-21 anti-ship ballistic missiles into the waters north of the Spratly Islands, where China has territorial issues with Taiwan and four Southeast Asian countries, in July 2020.
Since the second world war the US has been the dominant regional naval power, seeking to provide a security guarantee to Japan, South Korea and in particular Taiwan, which is claimed by China. But the desire by the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, to build a world-class navy by 2035 is fast changing the calculus.
In July of this year, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that the US will defend the Philippines if it is attacked in the South China Sea, and urged China to stop its “provocative behavior.”
(with agency) Photo: A satellite picture shows a rail terminus and target storage building in Ruoqiang, Xinjiang, China.
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