China’s Area 51 activity sparks WW3 fears | World | News
China appears to be on the “war path” with signs it plans to restart nuclear weapons testing, a defense expert warns.
New satellite images of the highly secretive Lop Nur military base, often referred to as “China’s Area 51,” reveal significant expansion efforts by Chinese military forces amid rising tensions with Western countries. The images show boreholes and horizontal tunnels designed for nuclear device explosions, an extended runway and advanced new fighter jets.
Multiple access roads, support structures and explosive storage facilities also appear to have been constructed since the last aerial photographs were taken in 2020.
Recently both Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin announced their intention to resume nuclear weapons testing for the first time since the end of the Cold War. Newly released photos suggest Xi Jinping may be pursuing similar goals, according to a defense expert.
China ‘will continue nuclear tests’
Professor Anthony Glees, a security and defense expert at the University of Buckingham, said: “Xi heard Putin say Russia would continue testing nuclear weapons, heard Trump immediately respond by saying the US would do the same, and Xi wants a slice of that pie too.” Express USA.
China currently has an arsenal of 600 nuclear warheads; this figure is dwarfed by the United States’ stock of 5,177 and Russia’s world-leading stock of 5,500. The UK has 225 nuclear warheads and this number is expected to rise to 260 in the near future.
Professor Glees warns that the expansion of Malan Air Base and Lop Nur, a secret testing facility in the Taklamakan Desert, signals China’s desire to close this gap. He warned: “This is a bitter taste of what is to come.”
These developments should also ring alarm bells for officials in Taiwan, especially in light of US intelligence reports suggesting that Beijing plans to launch an attack on the island nation by 2027. Fears are rising despite China’s repeated insistence on “peaceful reunification”.
‘Huge air force field’
Professor Glees said: “Since September, there have been numerous signs that President Xi is now firmly on the warpath and that democratic, anti-communist Taiwan is under increasing existential threat.
“China is busy brewing beer, and this isn’t Tsingtao Beer. These stunning satellite images show preparations are underway for a massive air force test range, with evidence that the three-mile-long runway being built will trial two new supersonic tailless stealth aircraft, the tri-engine J-36 and the smaller J-50, designed to fly extremely fast, fly extremely high and be invisible to radar pulses.”
“They are not defensive warriors; they are attack dogs. Their mission is to launch a surprise attack using new hypersonic missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles. There is little doubt that China’s target target is Taiwan.”
