China Test Fires missile.

January 25, 2014 – BEIJING – China’s
military has released images of an intercontinental ballistic missile
with enough range to reach the United States, as Beijing is involved in a
series of rows threatening to embroil Washington. The pictures of
Chinese soldiers test-firing a Dongfeng-31 missile, which is said by
experts to be able to carry nuclear warheads 8,000 kilometers (4,960
miles), appeared in the People’s Liberation Army Daily newspaper on
Tuesday. Further images showing soldiers dressed in protective suits,
suggesting that the drill was simulating the launch of an armed warhead,
were also posted on the sohu.com news portal, attributed to the
newspaper. Sohu.com said it was the first time that images of such an
exercise had been released. The images could not be found on the PLA
Daily’s website when checked by AFP on Thursday. China is embroiled in a
series of territorial disputes with its neighbors in the South China
Sea, and is locked in a row with Japan in the East China Sea over
islands administered by Tokyo and claimed by Beijing. The U.S. has a
security alliance with Japan and Vice President Joe Biden said last
month that a strategic shift to Asia would continue. -SW

Military build-up continues:
Visiting U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns met Thursday with
senior Chinese officials amid mounting tension between Beijing and
Washington over China’s increasingly public displays of military might
in the region. As Burns arrived in Beijing earlier this week, China’s
army showed off the first-ever images of its advanced Dongfeng-31
intercontinental ballistic missile being tested. Published Tuesday on a
website affiliated with People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the photos show
soldiers preparing and test launching the missiles, which put China’s
nuclear warheads in range of the U.S. West Coast and most European
capitals. “Seeing this photo, Americans will of course take it as a sign
of more remarkable military threat,” Shi Yinhong, a professor of
International Relations and director of the Centre on American Studies
at China’s Renmin University told CBS News. “But China is determined and
will continue its military buildup despite the fact that Amer