According to multiple media reports, China tested its DF-26B and DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missiles in the South China Sea on August 26th. However, a military expert said that the Chinese military did not report on the missile exercises, which are speculation by the media.
It’s reported that during the recent military exercises in four major sea areas (Bohai Sea, Yellow Sea, East China Sea, and the South China Sea), the Chinese military conducted a test firing of Dongfeng series “aircraft-carrier killer” ballistic missiles in the vicinity of the Xisha Islands, which they said was a demonstration against the United States. However, Dr. Zhang Jing, a researcher at the Chinese Society for Strategic Studies, believes that the CCP’s maritime exercises are true, but there is no warning notice for the test firing of live ammunition, and the coordinates listed in the reports are not in the Paracel Islands, so they are mostly speculation.
Dr. Zhang Jing published an analysis on his Facebook page. He found that the first to propose “Dongfeng missile exercises near the Paracel Islands” was the news released by the French social media East Pendulum and alleged that “Flight Bulletin No. A3325/20” NOTAM, and in addition, the website of the South China Sea Maritime Safety Administration of the Mainland has issued the “Qiong Hang Jing No. 0078 Navigation Warning”, so it seems to be highly credible.
However, when searching for “A3325/20 Flight Bulletin”, its coordinates were far away in Europe, so it was obvious that the report was completely wrong. The real number is 1A3225/20, and it is a flight safety bulletin issued by the “Shanghai Flight Information Region”, which is over Shanghai, not Sanya.
Zhang Jing said, “According to the latitude and longitude of each danger zone marked in the content of the notification, as well as the exact location drawn by the radius and scope of the coverage, you can confirm that it is irrelevant with Xisha Islands.”
So, what about the navigation warning? That is to explain the scope of the sea area exercise but can not prove the shooting area of the Dongfeng missiles. If there is a course of shooting the Dongfeng missiles, there must be a notice on live ammunition test firing.
As for the statement that “DF-26B was launched from Qinghai and DF-21D launched from Zhejiang” quoted by South China Morning Post, Zhang Jing discovered that it was first published by the Japanese media, which did not specify the source of the information and used “reported by an anonymous US defense official.”
Zhang Jing believes that if DF-26B was launched from Qinghai and DF-21D was launched from Zhejiang, then there should be two flight warning notices in Qinghai and Zhejiang, but there is no relevant information. How could this happen?
If it was truly revealed by a US military official, why should he hide his name as the US military does not want to reduce disputes in such a hostile situation with China? From this perspective, the credibility of these reports is not high.