CHINA has deployed its most dangerous nuke bombers to a tiny but vital island sea base, satellite pictures show.
The act of aggression comes after US intelligence warned that China could seize Taiwan’s smaller islands as the first step of a full-scale invasion.
Aerial photos show two hulking H-6 bombers on an airfield on Woody Island in the South China Sea, taken on May 19.
The long-range aircraft date back to the 1950s and were modelled on Soviet-era warplanes.
But they’ve been souped-up to unleash modern weapons including hypersonic and nuclear missiles.
They are considered China’s most advanced bombers, and this is the first time they’ve been spotted on the outpost in five years.
The photos also show two Y-20 transport aircraft and a KJ-500 early warning plane around Woody Island on the same day.
The KJ-500 is thought vital to China’s expansion of its air and sea campaign, as it tackles increasingly-complex operations.
Woody Island is a part of the Paracel Islands, situated approximately midway between China and Vietnam and currently contested by both countries.
China built a city called Sansha on Woody Island in 2012, which Beijing uses to lord over the rest of the Paracels and the Spratly Islands.
According to Collin Koh, a defense analyst from Singapore, “China’s long-range bombers are not necessary to be stationed on the Paracels, indicating that Beijing might be sending a broad message—towards the Philippines, the US, and other ongoing activities.”
This overt move of aggression ominously aligns with a prediction made by US intelligence earlier in the week concerning China’s acknowledged aspirations to take control of Taiwan, which Beijing asserts belongs to them.
A report warned that China could begin seizing Taiwan’s smaller outlying islands as a precursor to a full-blown invasion.
The vast majority of Taiwan’s population lives on the main island, but Taipei also controls a smattering of smaller island chains.
These include the Kinmen and Matsu islands close to the Chinese mainland, the Pratas and Taiping in the South China Sea, and the Penghu archipelago nearer to Taiwan.
Storming these islands is one of the options on the table for China’s military generals – who continue to brandish threats of a full-scale invasion of Taiwan.
The danger was aired in the latest Worldwide Threat Assessment report earlier this month by the US Defence Intelligence Agency.
The swarm of warplanes is the latest in a series of operation designed to intimidate Taiwan.
Last month, Xi Jinping launched a full round of army, navy and rocket forces exercises encircling Taiwan.
Some 19 warships and 50 aircraft loomed near the island in what Beijing called a “stern warning” and “powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence”.
And in March, chilling pictures showed Beijing’s giant D-Day-style invasion barges.
The giant troop-carrying barges are capable of delivering fleets of tanks and thousands of troops directly onto Taiwanese roads.
The DIA report did not predict an all-out invasion of Taiwan in 2025, but said China could scale-up attacks elsewhere.
The agency said: “China possesses a variety of military options to coerce Taiwan, including increasing the frequency and scope of China’s military presence operations, air and maritime blockades, seizure of Taiwan’s smaller outlying islands, joint firepower strikes, and a full-scale amphibious invasion of Taiwan.”
It added: “China appears willing to defer seizing Taiwan by force as long as it calculates unification ultimately can be negotiated, the costs of forcing unification continue to outweigh the benefits, and its stated redlines have not been crossed by Taiwan or its partners and allies.”
The US intelligence report also warned that Beijing will continue terrorising Taiwan with its “campaign of diplomatic, information, military and economic pressure” to achieve its long-term goal of “reunification”.
Taipei has not cowered in the face of China’s bullying, flexing its military muscles in return.
Last month it launched 14 days of war games to prepare for the “worst case scenario”.
The operations were part of Taiwan’s annual Han Kuang series of military exercises that put the island’s defence capabilities to the test.
The computer drills used the US-built Joint Theater Level Simulation platform to simulate a full-scale assault on the island by China.
