China is said to have deployed a second brigade operating its Dongfeng-41 (DF-41) intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) to Heilongjiang province in the northeast that borders the Russian Far East.

Heilongjiang is the closest point to the United States from which China can launch its land-based ICBMs. The distance from Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang, to Washington D.C. is some 10,000 kilometers.

Like Us on Facebook

That's well within the 14,000 km range of the road-mobile DF-41, which has a payload of 10 to 12 nuclear warheads.

The claim the DF-41 is combat ready is at odds with western intelligence reports saying this ICBM is still in the flight-test stage of development. It was only in April 2016 China successfully conducted the seventh flight test of a DF-41 with two dummy warheads near the South China Sea amid growing tensions between Washington and Beijing.

It remains impossible for this ICBM to have entered operational status in the eight months since then. This means China might have deployed another ICBM to Heilongjiang but not the DF-41.

Chinese state-run media, however, posted photos of the DF-41 on their websites in a blatant attempt to ensure the administration of U.S. president Donald Trump gets the message it shouldn't threaten China.

On Jan. 24, The Trump administration vowed to stop China from seizing any more territory in international waters in the South China Sea in its harshest warning to China yet.

"I think the U.S. is going to make sure that we protect our interests there," said White House spokesman Sean Spicer in Washington, D.C.

"It's a question of if those islands are in fact in international waters and not part of China proper, then yeah, we're going to make sure that we defend international territories from being taken over by one country," said Spicer.

He was referring to China's unlawfully claimed and militarized man-made and natural islands in the South China Sea. China's claim to own the South China Sea was declared illegal on July 12, 2016 by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.

Chinese media described the DF-41 as a nuclear solid-fuel road-mobile ICBM that can hit targets anywhere in the world. It claims the DF-41 is widely considered one of the most advanced ICBMs.

"Its deployment is classified at the highest military levels," said one state-run newspaper. "but most military experts believe that China has finished the research and production of the Dongfeng-41 and the conditions for deployment are optimal."

The same newspaper also said the People's Liberation Army intentionally revealed the DF-41 shortly after Trump's inauguration as Beijing's response to Trump's "provocative remarks" on China.

Chinese media also said China's nuclear capability should be "so strong that no country would dare launch a military showdown with China under any circumstance, and such that China can strike back against those militarily provoking it."

"A military clash with the U.S. is the last thing China wants, but China's nuclear arsenal must be able to deter the U.S.

"The U.S. has not paid enough respect to China's military."

"Enhancing communication and mutual understanding is not enough," said state media. "China must procure a level of strategic military strength that will force the U.S. to respect it."

TagsDongfeng-41 (DF-41), intercontinental ballistic missile, ICBM, china, Heilongjiang, washington d.c., South China Sea