China has launched a barrage of medium-range missiles over large distances in the South China Sea, Beijing’s latest step to demonstrate its strategic dominance and sovereignty over disputed waters, a U.S. defense official said.
The rocket launches on Wednesday mark a series of military exercises that China has carried out this month amid growing tensions with the United States over its territorial claims in the South China Sea and its attempts to push Taiwan, the self-governing island democracy that Beijing claims to be its own.
Senior Colonel Wu Qian, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of National Defense, did not name the rockets Thursday, but confirmed that China had carried out long-planned exercises over an area stretching from Qingdao in northeastern China to disputed islands in the South China Sea known as the Spratlys.
“The above exercises are not aimed at every country,” said Colonel Wu at a regularly scheduled briefing in Beijing.
China had signaled its plans to test the missiles by declaring a travel exclusion zone in part of the South China Sea this week. U.S. forces in the region have discovered the launch of four missiles from the mainland to that area, the U.S. Defense Department said.
The Pentagon is now assessing the types of missiles involved. Among the medium-sized missiles in China’s growing arsenal are the DF-26 and the DF-21, which can attack moving targets at sea.
“The growing frequency of exercises and the new types of display capabilities demonstrate the progress China has made in the military modernization drive over the past two decades,” said M. Taylor Fravel, an expert on the Chinese army who is the director of the Safety Study Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Tensions over the South China Sea and Taiwan have risen sharply in recent weeks as part of the broader decline in relations between China and the United States. The U.S. military has recently stepped up operations in the area, including deploying two aircraft carriers in July in the waters claimed by China.
The State faction also declared last month that China’s expanded maritime claims over most of the South China Sea were illegal, and more pronounced than ever before among other peoples in the region, including Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
The Trump administration further stepped up its efforts on Wednesday when the Department of Commerce banned purchases from the United States by two dozen Chinese companies that have played a role in China’s construction of an archipelago of artificial islands over the past decade. on coral reefs.
The South China Morning Post reported Wednesday that the Chinese military had fired medium-range missiles.
The tests also came a day after China accused the Americans of flying a U-2 espionage plan over one of the exercises, calling it a “naked provocation”.
The United States has held its own biennial naval exercise off the coast of Hawaii this week, with troops from 10 countries.
Vice Admiral Scott D. Conn, commander of the U.S. 3rd Fleet and leader of the exercise, said Thursday in a conference call that China had the right to conduct military exercises “within international laws and standards.”
Asked about the launches on Wednesday, he emphasized that the United States should not be deterred.
“In terms of launching ballistic missiles, the U.S. Navy currently has 38 ships in operation in the Indo-Pacific region, including in the South China Sea,” he said. “And as we continue to fly, sail and operate throughout international law, we can demonstrate our commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific Ocean and reassure our allies and partners.”
Such exercises are nevertheless examined for insight into new military progress. Mr Fravel noted that China had earlier tested the DF-21, an anti-ship missile known as a bear killer. As effective, it could jeopardize operations like those carried out last month by the two U.S. carriers, the Ronald Reagan and the Nimitz.
He said it was not clear if the missiles were fired at fixed or moving targets, adding that the latter “would be a better test of the overall system, to identify, track and destroy a moving ship at sea.”
Steven Lee Myers reported from Seoul, South Korea, and Keith Bradsher from Shanghai. Albee Zhang and Claire Fu contributed research.
