CHINA TOPIX

03/19/2024 04:57:24 am

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China Test-Fires new Generation Ballistic Missile Near North Korea

Missile Defense Agency Expected To Test Missile

(Photo : Getty Images) An unarmed Minuteman II intercontinental ballistic missile launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

The Chinese Ministry of National Defense revealed on Wednesday that the military has successfully test-fired a new type of missile in the Bohai Sea, the interior gulf of the Yellow Sea between China and North Korea.

A short statement from the ministry's website revealed that the military "achieved the intended result" and the training was aimed to enhance its missile capability and prepare for potential "national security threats."

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Although it did not specify details including when the missile test took place and the type of missiles used, a photo that showed a possible wreckage from the missile bearing the letters "E/ADF-26B" is making rounds on the Internet, the Global Times reported. Several experts think that it is a modified DF-26 intermediate-range ballistic missile, which is dubbed by netizens as the "Guam Killer" because of its capability to carry out intermediate precision strikes against US bases in Guam.

It is unclear if the missile test is meant to serve as a warning for the US or North Korea.

Beijing has consistently expressed its strong opposition against the deployment of the US' Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system to South Korea, as it radars could reportedly peer deep into Beijing, permitting US and its allies to better detect rocket launches and aircraft movements, Defense News reported. However, the recent missile test indicates that Beijing is proactively improving its defense and counterattack capabilities.

Meanwhile, China also flaunted its self-built fighter bombers, dubbed the 'Flying Leopard', during a live-fire drill over the South China Sea. The fighter jets conducted a series of exercises including the detection and expulsion of foreign military surveillance aircraft. Details of the said drill were also not known.

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