16 November 2020
- RSIS
- Media Mentions
- China’s Ballistic Missiles and Uncertainty At Sea
China’s Ballistic Missiles and Uncertainty At Sea
On August 26, China fired two of its most capable conventional missiles – a DF-26 intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) and DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) – into the South China Sea from bases in mainland China. Now, nearly three months later, a Chinese source is claiming that these missiles hit a moving ship target near the Paracel Islands. Allegedly, the target was in disputed waters south of Hainan Island and north of the Paracel Islands. The exercise was presumably overseen by the PLA’s Southern Theater Command. It is unclear why China took so long to make such a claim about hitting a mobile at-sea target, but it is surely related to bolstering a Chinese propaganda effect. The source of the claim was Wang Xiangsui, a former senior colonel of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), who now holds a professorial tenure at Beihang University in Beijing. Another naval expert is Dr Collin Koh, Research Fellow at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies at RSIS. Concerning Wang’s claims, Koh advised exercising “some caution and seek to ascertain its veracity,” even though authoritative confirmation from either the Chinese government or Pentagon may be hard to come by.
IDSS / Print
Last updated on 17/11/2020
