China’s air force has released a video showing nuclear-capable H-6 bombers carrying out a simulated attack on what appears to be Andersen Air Force Base on Guam.
The video, released on Saturday on People’s Liberation Army Air Force’s (PLAAF) Sina Weibo (微博) account, came as China carried out a second day of drills near Taiwan to express Beijing’s anger at the visit of a senior US Department of State official to Taipei.
Guam is home to major US military facilities, including the air base.
Photo: Reuters / PLA Air Force online
The PLAAF’s 2 minute, 15 second video, titled The god of war H-6K goes on the attack!, is set to solemn, dramatic music like a trailer for a Hollywood movie, and shows H-6 bombers taking off from a desert base. Halfway through, a pilot presses a button and shoots a missile at an unnamed seaside runway.
The missile homes in on the runway, a satellite image of which is shown that looks exactly like the layout of Andersen, although the base is not named.
The music suddenly stops as images of the ground shaking appear, followed by aerial views of an explosion.
“We are the defenders of the motherland’s aerial security; we have the confidence and ability to always defend the security of the motherland’s skies,” the PLAAF wrote in a brief description for the video.
Neither the Chinese Ministry of National Defense nor the US Indo-Pacific Command immediately responded to a request for comment on the video.
Collin Koh, a research fellow at Singapore’s Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, said that the video was aimed at highlighting China’s growing prowess in long-range power projection.
“The video is meant to warn the Americans that even supposedly safe, rearward positions such as Guam may come under threat when conflicts over regional flashpoints, be it Taiwan or South China Sea, erupt,” he said.
However, Sina Weibo users have asked why the PLAAF’s Propaganda and Culture Center had to splice clips from Hollywood blockbusters such as Transformers into the video, which has racked up 4.72 million views on Sina Weibo.
The explosive central missile sequences were taken from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, The Rock and The Hurt Locker.
“It turned out that our dream of great power was pieced together by editing American film clips,” one user said.
“We promote the domestic military aircraft using US Hollywood movie clips, why bother?” added another, while a third said: “It’s our nation’s promotional video, why don’t we use our own images?”
Additional reporting by AFP
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source
SHOT IN THE ARM: The new system can be integrated with Avenger and Stinger missiles to bolster regional air defense capabilities, a defense ministry report said Domestically developed Land Sword II (陸射劍二) missiles were successfully launched and hit target drones during a live-fire exercise at the Jiupeng Military Base in Pingtung County yesterday. The missiles, developed by the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST), were originally scheduled to launch on Tuesday last week, after the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday long weekend, but were postponed to yesterday due to weather conditions. Local residents and military enthusiasts gathered outside the base to watch the missile tests, with the first one launching at 9:10am. The Land Sword II system, which is derived from the Sky Sword II (天劍二) series, was turned