For the first time, China has launched its ‘anti-aircraft missile’ in the South China Sea. These missiles have been fired as part of a naval exercise in the disputed area amid surveillance of American reconnaissance aircraft. China is involved in regional disputes in the South and East China Seas. They also made progress in increasing military power over their man-made islands over the years and calls this their right of defense.
Beijing claims sovereignty over the entire South China Sea. But Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippine, Brunei and Taiwan claim the opposite. China’s territorial dispute with East China Sea is with Japan. The South China Sea and East China Sea are said to be endowed with minerals, oil and other natural resources.
China on Wednesday morning fired two missiles, including an aircraft-carrier killer missile, into the South China Sea. A day earlier, the US U-2 spy plane landed in a flight-prohibited area during its naval exercise in the Bohai Sea in China’s northern coastal area.
Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post newspaper on Thursday quoted unnamed sources close to the Chinese military as saying that the DF-26B and DF-21D (anti-aircraft missile) missiles were launched on Wednesday from the southern island of Hainan and the Parcel Islands. Fired in the middle area.
One of the world’s busiest trade routes, growing disputes over control of the South China Sea is causing continued bitterness in Beijing’s relationship with Washington and its southern neighbors. The Trump administration rejected Beijing’s claims of sovereignty over much of the disputed territory this year.
The DF-26 is a dual-capacity missile that is restricted under the ‘Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty’. The treaty was signed by the United States and the former Soviet Union after the end of the Cold War. According to the news, the US had withdrawn from the treaty last year and cited the deployment of such weapons by China.
The DF-21 has a capacity to strike for about 1,800 km. Government media calls it the most modern missile of the series. Its target is unusually accurate and is called a “career killer” by military experts who believe it has been developed to target American aircraft carriers who may be involved in a potential conflict with China.
Beijing has invested a lot in the last two decades towards developing missiles, fighter jets, nuclear submarines and other weapons to expand its military beyond its borders.
