China’s military conducts long-range nuclear missile drill

January 25, 2014 – BEIJING – China’s military has released images of an intercontinental ballistic missile with enough range to reach the United States, as Beijing is involved in a series of rows threatening to embroil Washington. The pictures of Chinese soldiers test-firing a Dongfeng-31 missile, which is said by experts to be able to carry nuclear warheads 8,000 kilometers (4,960 miles), appeared in the People’s Liberation Army Daily newspaper on Tuesday. Further images showing soldiers dressed in protective suits, suggesting that the drill was simulating the launch of an armed warhead, were also posted on the sohu.com news portal, attributed to the newspaper. Sohu.com said it was the first time that images of such an exercise had been released. The images could not be found on the PLA Daily’s website when checked by AFP on Thursday. China is embroiled in a series of territorial disputes with its neighbors in the South China Sea, and is locked in a row with Japan in the East China Sea over islands administered by Tokyo and claimed by Beijing. The U.S. has a security alliance with Japan and Vice President Joe Biden said last month that a strategic shift to Asia would continue. –SW

Military build-up continues: Visiting U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns met Thursday with senior Chinese officials amid mounting tension between Beijing and Washington over China’s increasingly public displays of military might in the region. As Burns arrived in Beijing earlier this week, China’s army showed off the first-ever images of its advanced Dongfeng-31 intercontinental ballistic missile being tested. Published Tuesday on a website affiliated with People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the photos show soldiers preparing and test launching the missiles, which put China’s nuclear warheads in range of the U.S. West Coast and most European capitals. “Seeing this photo, Americans will of course take it as a sign of more remarkable military threat,” Shi Yinhong, a professor of International Relations and director of the Centre on American Studies at China’s Renmin University told CBS News. “But China is determined and will continue its military buildup despite the fact that America is discontent.” –CBS