China is ‘building launch pads near its nuclear missile silos’ – new satellite images | World | News
China is building launch pads and bunkers near isolated nuclear silos holding the country’s longest-range missiles, the latest satellite images suggest. According to these images, reviewed by Reuters, Beijing is building a sprawling web of launch pads, bunkers and communications nodes near the isolated nuclear silos that hold the Chinese military’s longest-range missiles.
More than 80 launch pads and three octagon-shaped installations can now be seen in the country’s remote northwest area, near the Hami nuclear silos, according to analysts. These 80 pads could be part of China’s expanding fleet of mobile missile launchers and air-defence batteries, Reuters also said.
Two of the octagon structures, which reportedly contain accommodation for personnel and large military vehicles, are thought have been built over the past six years. The third is less developed and appears to be used as a target range.
The images also show facilities that may serve electronic warfare, satellite communications and command operations, according to three security analysts who assessed the imagery for Reuters. The news agency also added “security scholars say [the complex] appears built to ensure no American first strike on China’s nuclear arsenal could reliably knock out Beijing’s ability to hit back”.
The scale of the construction marks a major step-up in hardened infrastructure seemingly designed to protect and operate China’s land-based nuclear forces as Beijing competes with the US in nuclear capability and tensions rise over issues such as Taiwan’s sovereignty.
The US President Donald Trump was in Beijing earlier this month in what was the first visit to China by a sitting American president in nearly a decade.
During the meeting, Beijing reportedly shown little public interest in US entreaties to get more involved in solving the conflict in Iran.
Chinese President Xi Jinping also warned Trump during private talks that their differences on the self-ruled island of Taiwan, if handled poorly, could hurtle the world’s dominant powers toward “clashes and even conflicts,” according to Chinese government officials.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told NBC News that US policy toward Taiwan was “unchanged” and cautioned that it would be “a terrible mistake” for China, who considers the territory as part of its own, to try to take Taiwan by force.
He also framed Xi’s comments as standard practice.
“They always raise it on their side. We always make clear our position, and we move on to the other topics,” said Rubio, who was among senior aides to join Trump for the talks.
