Beijing has announced that its so-called carrier killer anti-ship missile has been deployed to the country's northwest, just a day after the U.S. Navy sailed a warship past disputed islands in the South China Sea.
China's DF-26 ballistic missile, which reportedly has a range of 3,000-4,000 km, was mobilized to the country's northwest plateau and desert areas, the state-run Global Times newspaper reported Tuesday, quoting national broadcaster CCTV.
While the actual deployment date was not mentioned, the timing of the reports' release coincided with a U.S. "freedom of navigation" operation (FONOP) near Chinese-held islands in the South China Sea's Paracel chain on Monday. In the FONOP, which Washington conducts globally to challenge maritime claims it considers excessive, the U.S. Navy sent the Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture-based USS McCampbell guided-missile destroyer near the islands — a move China blasted as a "provocation."