FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
Major military changes are underway on China's east coast. The Chinese government is reportedly transforming the area, highly strategic for a potential crisis in Taiwan and the South China Sea, into a launch pad for potential missile strikes against Taipei and the surrounding areas. Analysts, who have reviewed some emblematic satellite images, believe the buildup is part of Xi Jinping's ambitions to bring the rebellious province back under Beijing's control, as well as counter US power in Asia.
What's happening on the east coast of China?
According to the New York Times, Chinese missile brigades have built new and larger bases on the country’s east coast and added more launch pads in key locations. However, the Pentagon estimates that the People’s Liberation Army, which controls both nuclear and conventional missiles, has increased its stockpile by nearly 50% in four years, to about 3,500 missiles. While it is unclear how many are on the east coast and headed for Taiwan, satellite imagery shows a worrying situation for Taipei.
Beijing’s bases, for example, are deploying increasingly advanced missiles, such as the Dongfeng-17, a maneuverable and harder-to-intercept hypersonic missile, and the Dongfeng-26, dubbed by some Chinese as the “Guam Express” for its ability to strike U.S. military facilities in the region. Along China’s east coast, soldiers have practiced launching missiles from farmland and isolated valleys, near highways and from coastal outcrops facing Taiwan, which lies across a 100-mile-wide strait.
The missiles are "really the starting point for any kind of military coercion campaign that China would use against Taiwan," warns Jennifer Kavanagh, senior fellow at Defense Priorities.
In the event of war, Chinese missiles would be crucial in destroying Taiwan's defenses, as well as threatening US bases in Guam and Japan, and hitting US Navy ships sent to aid the island.
Brigade 611 and the new missiles
Satellite images show how the 611th Brigade base has doubled in size in recent years. The new area includes what some experts believe may be, at least in part, a training complex with launch pads and makeshift tunnels for simulating operations.
"It's a large facility, a fairly cohesive training center for practicing a full range of operations," Decker Eveleth, a researcher at CNA, told the NYT.
Another unit, the 616th Brigade, in Jiangxi province, has also grown rapidly in anticipation of the Dongfeng-17.
The 611th Brigade in Anhui is deploying the Dongfeng-26 missile, which can be armed with a conventional or nuclear warhead and is said to be capable of reaching US military installations in parts of the Asia-Pacific.
The missile can also be transported by land, making it more difficult to track.
In a war over Taiwan, it is reasonable to assume that Chinese commanders could deploy mobile missile units in caves and protected locations to avoid detection. Launch sites along the coast would allow units to fire missiles at targets in Taipei or ships at sea, and then move on, a significant problem for the US and its partners. /Adapted from Il Giornale/
???? China is turning its east coast into a missile strike platform aimed at Taiwan as well as US forces that protect the Island.
— Vanguard Intel Group ???? (@vanguardintel) September 29, 2025
The Pentagon reports China's Rocket Force has boosted its missile stockpile by nearly 50% in 4 years, reaching about 3,500 missiles.
1/5 pic.twitter.com/33AJ8QB7eV
Lini një Përgjigje