Monday, November 8th, 2021
Target practice in the desert?
USA: China builds dummies of US ships
Relations between China and the United States are strained because of Beijing’s claims to the South China Sea and Taiwan. Washington is now presenting satellite images that are said to show replicas of US warships. The People’s Army used the dummies for target exercises, so the allegation.
According to American sources, the Chinese military has built mock-ups of an aircraft carrier and two other US warships for possible target exercises in the desert. As from a report by US Naval Institutes in Annapolis, Maryland, USA, satellite images show the replicas in the Ruoqiang area of the Taklamakan Desert in northwest China’s Xinjiang region.
The aircraft carrier model is practically flat in its original size and should appear similar to a target image on the radar, according to the report. It is not the first time that such targets have been built in the desert, but these replicas are more accurate and more developed. When asked about the report, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told the Beijing press, “I am unaware of this matter.”
The report comes at a time of growing tensions between the two countries over Taiwan or China’s controversial territorial claims in the South China Sea. US President Joe Biden promised last month that the US would defend Taiwan in the event of an attack by China. China reacted indignantly and accused the US of meddling in internal affairs. The communist leadership regards Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic and threatens to conquer it.
The US has committed itself to Taiwan’s defense capability – which so far has mainly meant arms deliveries. The question of military assistance in the event of an attack has so far been deliberately left open because Beijing sees it as a violation of its “one-China doctrine”.