The Chinese Air Force has released a propaganda film that shows nuclear-capable H-6 bombers carrying out a simulated attack on an American military base that appears to be Andersen Air Force Base on the US Pacific island of Guam. The video released on Saturday looks no less than a Hollywood blockbuster action, and the People's Liberation Army (PLA) is using it to highlight the might of the country's air force.
Moreover, the release of the video comes as China carried out a second day of drills near Chinese-claimed Taiwan, to express Beijing's annoyance over the United States which has been supplying arms to the country. Understandably, the video will only further add to the growing bitterness among the world's two largest economies.
Why Guam?
The video that shows the simulated attacks being carried out in Gaum particularly has raised quite a few eyebrows. Guam is home to major US military facilities, including the air base, which would be key point of attack while responding to any conflict in the Asia Pacific region.
The 2 minutes and 15 seconds video titled 'The god of war H-6K goes on the attack!' shows H-6 bombers taking off from a desert base. Halfway through the video, a Chinese pilot can be seen pressing the button and releasing a missile at a runway at an unnamed seaside. Next, a satellite image appears with the missile landing. The image appears like the layout of Andersen, although it is not named.
Following that, the aerial views of the explosion is shown, with the ground shaking, and the music comes to a halt. "We are the defenders of the motherland's aerial security; we have the confidence and ability to always defend the security of the motherland's skies," the People's Liberation Army Air Force wrote in a brief description for the video.
Much Like a Hollywood Blockbuster
The video, which was released on the PLA's Air Force Weibo account, looked like they were lifted directly from the 2008 Oscar-winning 'The Hurt Locker' and the 1996 action-thriller 'The Rock'. According to South China Morning Post, a source close to the Chinese military said that it is a common practice for the PLA's publicity department to "borrow" from Hollywood films to make their productions look more spectacular.
"Almost all of the officers in the department grew up watching Hollywood movies, so in their minds, American war films have the coolest images," the source said. However, the PLA was unlikely to face any backlash over copyright infringements given that only a few seconds of the footages have been used. Moreover, the Chinese military has come up with such videos earlier too. In 2011, China's state broadcaster CCTV aired a film about a PLA training exercise that included "borrowed" footage from 'Top Gun' a Hollywood cult classic about US fighter pilots starring Tom Cruise.
That said, the video appears amid growing tensions between the United States and China. China has been conducting air drills with its fleet of H-6s around and near Taiwan, according to Taiwan's air force, including those carried last week. The video is believed to be China's way of expressing its anger over the United States following the visit of a senior US State department official to Taipei lately.
The H-6K is the latest model of the bomber, which is based on the 1950s vintage Soviet Tu-16. With a combat range of nearly 6,000 kms (3,700 miles), H-6K bombers have the capability to carry nuclear weapons and long range cruise missiles. They were the PLA's first strategic bomber and have been specifically designed to target Taiwan.
