China 'wants slice of nuclear weapons cake' amid warning Xi Jinping on 'warpath'

 China is now on the 'warpath' after evidence emerged that it plans to conduct nuclear weapons testing, a defence expert has warned.

New satellite images of the top-secret Lop Nur military base dubbed "China's Area 51" have revealed huge efforts by the Chinese military to expand the facility as tensions rise with the West, with boreholes and horizontal tunnels used to contain blasts from nuclear devices appearing alongside an expanded runway, and impressive new fighter aircraft. A series of access roads, support buildings and storage facilities for explosives also appear to have been developed since the last aerial shots were taken in 2020.

In recent days, both Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin have spoken of their intention to carry out nuclear weapons testing for the first time since the end of the Cold War - and the newly surfaced pictures suggest Xi Jinping is wanting to do the same, according to one defence expert

Professor Anthony Glees, a security and defence expert from the University of Buckingham, told the Mirror: "Xi has heard his chum Putin saying Russia will resume nuclear weapons testing, has heard Trump responding immediately by saying the USA will do the same thing and Xi wants a slice of this particular cake as well."

China currently has an arsenal of 600 nuclear warheads - far less than the US, on 5,177, and Russia, which has the world's largest stockpile at 5,500. Britain has 225 nuclear warheads, though this will rise to 260 in the next few years.

Along with the expansion of the Malan Air Base, a secretive test facility in the Taklamakan Desert, the expansion of Lop Nur is a sign that China intends to catch up, says Professor Glees, who added: "This is a grim taste of what is to come."

The images should also worry officials in Taiwan, following reports from US intelligence that Beijing plans to attack the island nation by 2027. China has repeatedly insisted it wants "peaceful reunification".

Professor Glees said: "Since September, there have been multiple signs that President Xi is now firmly on the warpath, and democratic, anti-Communist Taiwan under an ever-mounting existential threat.

"China is busy brewing and it's not Tsingtao Beer. These fascinating satellite images show preparations underway for a massive air force test site, with evidence that the three mile long runway being constructed will try out two new supersonic tail-less stealth planes, the three engined J-36 and the smaller J-50, designed to fly extremely fast, extremely high and be invisible to radar pulses.

"They are not defensive fighters, they are attack dogs. Their mission is to launch a surprise strike using new hypersonic missiles and drones. There can be little doubt that the target China has in its crosshairs is Taiwan."