China's military identifies US and Japanese destroyers as ‘enemy vessels'
The
People's Liberation Army has explicitly identified the US Arleigh Burke-class destroyer and Japan's Atago-class destroyer as enemy targets in an information display for the navy's open day.
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The unprecedented peacetime move coincided with the USS William P. Lawrence – an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer – transiting through the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday.
It was noticed by a visitor in Taizhou, Zhejiang province who was aboard a Nanjing Type 052D guided-missile destroyer – part of the PLA Navy's Eastern Theatre Command whose main role is to defend the Taiwan Strait.
The visitor posted a photo of the display on social media that has since been widely circulated.
'The YJ-18A anti-ship missile is a new vertically launched, long-range cruise missile now deployed by the navy,' the display read.
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'It can strike large and medium-sized enemy surface vessels such as the US Arleigh Burke-class and Japan's Atago-class destroyers using supersonic trajectories, possessing a high penetration probability and accuracy, significantly enhancing the PLA Navy's maritime dominance capabilities.'
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