Vietnam to investigate China’s missile base near its border

Vietnam will verify whether China is completing a surface-to-air missile base about 20 km away from the Vietnamese border, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said Thursday.

“We will verify the information,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said at a press meet, responding to an inquiry about China deploying an anti-air missile base near Vietnam.

The Twitter account of the South China Sea News, an NGO that seeks to promote better understanding and study of South China Sea issues, recently posted a satellite image showing a formation of surface-to-air missiles, which is gradually being completed in Ningming County of China’s Guangxi Province, about 20 km away from the Vietnamese border.

The image showed the presence of radars and at least six launchers along a military runway. Satellite data revealed that the base had been built since June 2019.

Another structure, suspected to be a helicopter base, is also being built about 60 km away from the Vietnamese border, the NGO said.

By Vu Anh – VnExpress.net – February 4, 2021