The Chinese military has constructed mockups of an American aircraft carrier and other warships in the Taklamakan desert of Southwest Xinjiang, the US Naval Institute (USNI) said in a report published on Sunday.
Beijing has built missile targets in the shape of a US carrier and at least two Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, that might be for the purpose of training.
The USNI, which has got photos of these constructions from satellite imagery company Maxar, said the full-scale outline of a US carrier and two destroyers are part of the target range that has been built in the Ruoqiang region in central China.
“The site is near a former target range China used to test early versions of its so-called carrier killer DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missiles,” it said, adding that this new range shows that Beijing continues to focus on anti-carrier capabilities, with an emphasis on US Navy warships.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby on Monday said that China has been pursuing both aviation and maritime capabilities to counter the US in the Indo-Pacific region. He said Beijing has invested a lot in air and maritime capabilities that are designed largely to try to prevent the United States from having access to certain areas in the Indo-Pacific.
The People's Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF), which oversees China's anti-ship missile programs, conducted its first confirmed live-fire launch into the South China Sea in July 2020, according to the Pentagon's latest annual report on China's PLA.
During this operation, the PLARF fired six DF-21 anti-ship ballistic missiles into the waters north of the Spratly Islands, where Beijing has territorial disputes with Taiwan and four Southeast Asian countries.
Collin Koh, a research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, said that the tests at sea may have shown China "they are still far from creating an accurate ASBM (Anti-ship ballistic missile).
"I don't think the desert targets are going to be the final stage. It's meant for further refinement," he was quoted as saying by Reuters. Koh further said that an anti-ship ballistic missile test in the desert would not reflect the realistic conditions of a marine environment, which could affect sensors and targeting, but would allow China to carry out the tests more securely.
Washington and Beijing have been sparring over South China Sea and Taiwan.
Last month, US President Joe Biden said that the United States would protect Taiwan from any hostile action from China. This, however, has undeterred China, which recently flew a record number of planes over Taiwan air defence zone.
In July This year, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the US will defend the Philippines if it comes under attack in the South China Sea and warned China.
