Xi Jinping has been left humiliated after US intelligence revealed that Chinese missiles are filled with water and not fuel. The embarrassing US intelligence reports come just a week after Xi Jinping unleashed a sweeping purge of Chinese generals over deep-rooted corruption in the military.
The intelligence agents told Bloomberg that many Chinese missiles displayed as a sign of Beijing’s power did not have any fuel inside.
There are also vast fields of missile silos in western China with lids that do not function in a way that would allow the missiles to launch effectively.
The reports are so devastating that US officials now believe that Xi Jinping is unlikely to risk staging large-scale military operations anytime soon.
There have been ongoing fears of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan this decade as well as a risk of confrontation in the South China Sea.
US officials claim Xi Jinping will now be tied up in rooting out the huge scale of corruption in the Chinese missile forces, known as the Rocket Force, and the country’s entire defense industry
President Xi had previously poured billions into the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to help transform the military into a modern force.
In recent months, the Chinese leader started the largest crackdown on the country’s military in modern history.
On December 29, China’s top lawmakers ousted nine senior military officers from the national legislative body.
Many of these were from the Rocket Force – a key arm of the PLA overseeing tactical and nuclear missiles.
Yun Sun, Director of the China Program at the Stimson Center, a Washington DC-based thinktank, said: “The strategic nuclear force is what China relies on as the bottom line of its national security, and the last resort on Taiwan.
“It will take some time for China to clean up the mess and restore confidence in the Rocket Force’s competence and trustworthiness.
“It means, for the time being, China is at a weaker spot.”
Days earlier, China’s main political advisory body also publicly removed three executives from state-owned missile manufacturers.
In October, China’s former defense minister, Li Shangfu, was quietly ousted after only being in the position for seven months.
On New Year’s Day, the Chinese military’s official newspaper pledged to wage a “war on graft” this year, signaling more purges could be on the way.
