China building world's largest military command centre to protect leaders in case of nuclear war
China is building a new military command centre near Beijing that is 10 times the size of the Pentagon, US intelligence officials have said.
Satellite images of the base, about 20 miles south-west of the Chinese capital, show a 1,500-acre construction site that experts suggest could house reinforced military bunkers to protect the country's military top brass in the case of a nuclear war.
When complete, the facility – nicknamed 'Beijing Military City' – is expected to dwarf the Pentagon, the US defence headquarters, which is known as the world's largest office block.
The images, obtained by the Financial Times, suggest major construction of the project began in mid-2024, as the People's Liberation Army gears up for its centenary in 2027.
Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, has repeatedly warned that he intends to annex Taiwan by then, posing a major threat to the US, which relies on Taipei for its supply of microchips.
Dennis Wilder, the former head of China analysis for the CIA, told the outlet that if verified, the new complex signals Beijing's intention to develop its 'advanced nuclear war-fighting capability'.
Renny Babiarz, a former imagery analyst at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, said that the images suggested there were about 100 cranes operating across a three-mile site, helping to construct several underground facilities linked by subterranean tunnels.
Busy activity at the site stands in stark contrast to most Chinese construction projects, which have ground to a halt amid a property market crisis.
Despite building work continuing at pace, there are no official mentions of the site on Chinese websites.
There is no visible military presence on the site, but access to the facility is strictly prohibited.
Signs outside the facility warn against flying drones or taking photographs, the back of the project is blocked off by a checkpoint and people have been banned from using popular hiking trails nearby, according to the outlet.
A former senior US intelligence official said that the new base could act as a secure bunker for Chinese officials seeking protection from a nuclear attack.
'China's main secure command centre is in the Western Hills, north-east of the new facility, and was built decades ago at the height of the Cold War,' the former official said. 'The size, scale and partially buried characteristics of the new facility suggest it will replace the Western Hills complex as the primary wartime command facility.
'Chinese leaders may judge that the new facility will enable greater security against US 'bunker buster' munitions, and even against nuclear weapons.'
One China researcher who had viewed the images said that the site had 'all the hallmarks of a sensitive military facility', with its deep underground tunnels and reinforced concrete.
'Nearly 10 times bigger than the Pentagon, it's fitting for Xi Jinping's ambitions to surpass the US,' the researcher told The FT. 'This fortress only serves one purpose, which is to act as a doomsday bunker for China's increasingly sophisticated and capable military.'
In recent months, military experts have warned about Beijing rapidly expanding its nuclear arsenal, enabling it to respond in kind to Western nuclear threats.
Pentagon estimates suggest that Beijing will have 1,500 operable nuclear weapons by 2035, matching the firepower of the United States.
In December last year, satellite analysis revealed that China had levelled trees and undergrowth on the tiny island of Changbiao in the eastern China Sea to make way for two 'fast breeder' nuclear reactors.
Once operational, the reactors could be used to produce weapons-grade plutonium, which can be used in nuclear missiles, experts believe.
In December, highlighting the rising threat from China, Adml Sir Tony Radakin, the Chief of the British Defence Staff, warned that the world had entered a 'third nuclear age'.
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