Following Yumen of Gansu and Hami of Xinjiang, Ordos of Inner Mongolia was claimed by a US think tank that it was building a third intercontinental missile silo position. The direct reason for China’s massive expansion of its nuclear arsenal is believed to be related to the Sino-US rivalry.
According to Chinese media citing a report from the Financial Times on August 13th, Roderick Lee, director of the Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics of the U.S. Air Force University, claimed that China is building an “intercontinental missile silo position” near Ordos, Inner Mongolia.
According to reports, satellite images taken by European Space Agency satellites between May 16 and August 9 this year show that the construction site near Ordos is “very similar to the construction sites of intercontinental missile silos previously discovered in Yumen and Hami.”
Satellite images also show that at least 29 silos are being built locally. They are concentrated in two areas, 15 in the north and 14 in the south.
The report mentioned that, unlike Yumen and Hami, there is no Chinese People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force near Ordos, and these buildings are slightly different from similar buildings at the construction site of other known intercontinental missile silos. However, the above-mentioned American experts firmly believe that the similarity of these buildings in terms of area, spacing, and excavation mode proves that they are intercontinental missile silos.
British media said that China has built 30 or more possible intercontinental missile silos in Ordos, and the number of intercontinental missile silos that have been discovered in Yumen and Hami is conservatively estimated to be more than 230. In addition to the existing intercontinental missile force, “The total number of China’s land-based intercontinental missiles has approached or even exceeded the number of ‘Minuteman-Ⅲ’ intercontinental missiles currently deployed by the United States.”
The report also emphasized that the “China Military Power Report 2020” determined that China will soon have two new strategic nuclear submarines in service. It is conservatively estimated that China will be equipped with at least 20 H-20 stealth bombers. Therefore, the number of China’s future strategic nuclear weapons delivery platforms seems to be equal to that of the United States and Russia.
However, just like the state media Xinhua News Agency, CCTV, and even experts from the Chinese military who claimed that the intercontinental missile silos in Yumen and Hami are actually wind power bases, according to the Chinese media “Global Times”, the so-called intercontinental missile silos in Ordos are just wind power bases.
The evidence is that on December 18, 2020, Ordos City and Guodian Power Inner Mongolia New Energy Development Co., Ltd. held a signing ceremony, planning to implement 4 million kilowatts of new energy projects during the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, including 2 million kilowatts of photovoltaic power generation projects, 2 million The kilowatt wind power project will generate 9.4 billion kWh of electricity annually after it is fully put into operation, with a total investment of 21 billion yuan.
Based on the above news, Charles Richard, commander of the US Strategic Command, previously stated at the Space and Missile Defense Symposium that “the explosive growth and modernization of China’s nuclear and conventional forces is suffocating.”
However, the “Global Times” stated that the purpose of the US’s constant hype about the “Chinese intercontinental ballistic missile threat” is to “force China to sign a nuclear arms control agreement.” NATO has also urged China to start a nuclear dialogue on the scale and theory of nuclear weapons, because transparency will benefit both NATO and China.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has repeatedly responded that China opposes any country’s use of China on arms control issues and will not participate in any trilateral nuclear disarmament agreement negotiations. China has always advocated the complete prohibition and thorough destruction of nuclear weapons.
Despite this, many observers from the Chinese people strongly suggest that China expand its nuclear arsenal in order to counter the frenzied containment of China by the United States in recent years.
Some observers believe that the main purpose of allowing the other party to see China building intercontinental missile silos is to release nuclear deterrence and increase the degree of external ambiguity, to a certain extent to offset the “militants” trying to launch a nuclear war, and such “external strategic lull” is necessary.