Target practice in the desert ?: US: China makes dummies of American ships

Monday, November 8, 2021

Target training in the desert?
USA: China makes dummies of American ships

Relations between China and the United States have been strained by Beijing’s claims to the South China Sea and Taiwan. Washington now provides satellite imagery showing copies of US warships. The People’s Army used dummies for target training, hence the charge.

According to U.S. sources, the Chinese military has developed mock-ups of an aircraft carrier and two U.S. warships for possible target drills in the desert. According to a report U.S. Navy Companies Satellite imagery shows copies in Annapolis, Maryland, USA, in the Ruyokyang area of ​​the Taklamagan Desert in northwest China’s Xinjiang region.

The report says that the aircraft carrier model is practically flat at its original size and looks similar to the target image on the radar. This is not the first time such targets have been built in the desert, but these copies are very accurate and highly developed. When asked about the report, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenpin told Beijing reporters, “I do not know about this.”

The report comes at a time of rising tensions between the two countries over China’s disputed territorial claims in Taiwan or the South China Sea. Last month, US President Joe Biden promised that the United States would protect Taiwan during the Chinese offensive. Outraged, China accused the United States of meddling in domestic affairs. The communist leadership views Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic and threatens to seize it.

The United States has dedicated itself to Taiwan’s defense capability – which so far has mainly focused on arms supplies. The question of military assistance during the attack has so far been deliberately left open because Beijing considers it a violation of its “one-China principle.”