The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) live-fire exercise, during which the DF-17 hypersonic missile was tested, took place near Pingtan Island, 120 km from Taiwan, news.am informs, citing Aerotime.
China fires hypersonic missile 120km off Taiwan coast
STEPANAKERT, AUGUST 1, ARTSAKHPRESS: The publication notes that the launch was made on the eve of the 95th anniversary of the founding of the PLA, which is celebrated on August 1. In addition, the tests were preceded by increased tensions between the United States and China due to the upcoming visit to Taiwan of the Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi - to cover the visit, the attack group of the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan arrived in the South China Sea.
The DF-17 medium-range missile system (Dongfeng-17) is a development of the DF-16 complex. Its ballistic missile uses a DF-ZF hypersonic glider as a warhead, capable of maneuvering at speeds up to Mach 10 (12,300 km/h).
The complex can hit targets at a distance of up to 2.5 thousand km with both conventional and nuclear warheads.
China has previously threatened to take decisive action if Pelosi visits Taiwan. Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Tan Kefei said that if US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi does not cancel her visit, the Chinese army will take steps to prevent it.
According to a Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman, Pelosi's visit would seriously violate the "one China" principle and the provisions of the three joint China-US communiqués. Tan added that China will stand up for the country's state sovereignty.
After that, the attack group of the American nuclear aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan, armed with 90 aircraft and helicopters, entered the South China Sea, and China began two-day military exercises off the coast of Guangdong province in the western part of the Qiongzhou Strait.
