China to dispatch nuclear submarines to the Pacific in latest expansion of Beijing defence policy
- Beijing officials say US weapons systems in the area have forced its hand
- It will 'deploy nuclear warhead-armed submarines into the Pacific this year'
- The move is a huge change in China's defence policy, based on deterrence
China is planning to dispatch nuclear submarines into the Pacific for the first time amid heightened tensions with the US, it has been reported.
Officials claim new US weapons stationed in South Korea have forced its hand - among them is an anti-ballistic system and hypersonic glide missiles.
The prediction comes from a recent Pentagon report for Congress which states China will 'probably conduct its first nuclear deterrence patrol sometime in 2016'.
Chinese submarines armed with nuclear warheads will begin patrols into the Pacific Ocean this year, Pentagon officials believe (file image)
China's focus has shifted to developing and weaponising man-made islands in the South China Sea so it will have greater control over the maritime region without resorting to armed conflict (file image)
China's island-building program and the Defense Department said three of the land features in the Spratly Islands, in the South China Sea, now have runways (pictured) and large ports in various stages of construction
It marks a hugely aggressive change in China's defence policy and is likely to ratchet up tensions over territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
According to The Guardian, Beijing officials are refusing to comment on when the first patrol will take place but say it is inevitable.
In recent months the US has stepped up its deterrence measures around the South China Sea due to an international territorial dispute.
China claims most of the South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei have overlapping claims.
Washington has accused Beijing of militarising the sea after creating artificial islands, while Beijing, in turn, has criticised increased US naval patrols and exercises in Asia.
Meanwhile, today China's Defence Ministry said its had aircraft followed rules after two Chinese fighter jets carried out what the US said was an 'unsafe' intercept of a US military reconnaissance aircraft over the South China Sea.
The incident took place in international airspace last week as the plane carried out 'a routine US patrol', the Pentagon said.
A US defence official said two Chinese J-11 fighter jets flew within 50 feet of the U.S. EP-3 aircraft. The official said the incident took place east of Hainan island.
China has deployed anti-aircraft missiles to Woody Island, in the South China Sea as it continues on with its strategic aggression
Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun told a monthly news briefing China's aircraft acted completely professionally and in line with an agreement reached between the countries on rules governing such encounters.
However, he said the agreement, called the Rules of Behaviour for Safety of Air and Maritime Encounters, could only provide a 'technical standard', and the best way of resolving the problem was for the US to stop such flights.
'That's the real source of danger for Sino-US military safety at sea and in the air,' he said.
The encounter came shortly after China scrambled fighter jets as a US Navy ship sailed close to a disputed reef in the South China Sea.
Another Chinese intercept took place in 2014 when a Chinese fighter pilot flew acrobatic manoeuvre around a US spy plane.
(Source : dailymail.co.uk)
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