China has released a propaganda video showing nuclear-capable bombers carrying out a simulated attack on what appears to be the US Andersen Air Force Base on the Pacific island of Guam.
Dramatic footage with solemn music released by the Chinese military shows H-6 bombers taking off from a desert base as pilots fired off ballistic missiles at an unidentified seaside runway, triggering a massive explosion.
The video, which has been viewed nearly five million times on Chinese Twitter-like Weibo, has also been mocked by web users for apparently using clips of Hollywood blockbusters, including Transformers and The Rock.
China has released a propaganda video showing nuclear-capable bombers carrying out a simulated attack on what appears to be US Andersen Air Force Base on the island of Guam
Dramatic footage with solemn music released by the Chinese military shows H-6 bombers taking off from a desert base as pilots fired off ballistic missiles at a seaside runway
The video, which has been viewed nearly five million times on Chinese Twitter-like Weibo, has also been mocked by web users for apparently using clips of Hollywood blockbusters
It came as China carried out the second day of drills near Chinese-claimed Taiwan, to express anger at the visit of a senior US State Department official to Taipei.
Guam is home to major US military facilities, including the air base, which would be key to responding to any conflict in the Asia-Pacific region.
The Chinese air force's video titled 'The god of war H-6K goes on the attack!', set to solemn, dramatic music like a trailer for a Hollywood movie, shows H-6 bombers taking off from a desert base.
Halfway through, a pilot presses a button and looses off a missile at an unidentified seaside runway.
The missile homes in on the runway, a satellite image of which is shown that looks exactly like the layout of Andersen.
The music suddenly stops as images of the ground shaking appear, following by aerial views of an explosion. It came as China carried out the second day of drills near Chinese-claimed Taiwan, to express anger at the visit of a senior US State Department official to Taipei
The Chinese air force's video titled 'The god of war H-6K goes on the attack!', set to solemn, dramatic music like a trailer for a Hollywood movie, shows H-6 bombers taking off
A pilot is seen pressing a button as the Chinese bomber launched a missile at an unidentified seaside runway that appeared to be the US Andersen Air Force Base on the island of Guam
The music suddenly stops as images of the ground shaking appear, following by aerial views of an explosion.
'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 air force wrote in a brief description for the video.
But eagle-eyed social media users in China were quick to spot some glaring plot holes.
The explosive central missile sequences were plucked from three Hollywood movies, 'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen', 'The Rock' and 'Hurt Locker', and Weibo was withering in its scorn for the lack of originality.
'It turned out that our dream of great power was pieced together by editing American film clips,' said one user.
The video, which has been viewed nearly five million times on Chinese Twitter-like Weibo, has also been mocked by web users for apparently using clips of Hollywood blockbusters
The explosive central missile sequences were apparently plucked from three Hollywood movies, 'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen', 'The Rock' and 'Hurt Locker'
'We promote the domestic military aircraft using US Hollywood movie clips, why bother?' added another, while a third said: 'It's our nation's promotional video, why don't we use our own images?'
Neither China's defense ministry nor US Indo-Pacific Command immediately responded to requests for comment on the video.
Collin Koh, a research fellow at Singapore's Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, said the video was aimed at highlighting China's growing prowess in long-range power projection.
'The video is meant to warn the Americans that even supposedly safe, rearward positions such as Guam may come under threat when conflicts over regional flashpoints, be it Taiwan or the South China Sea, erupt,' he said.
The H-6 has been involved in multiple Chinese flights around and near Taiwan, according to Taiwan's air force, including those last week.
The H-6K is the latest model of the bomber, which is based on the 1950s vintage Soviet Tu-16.
China is locked with the US in a power struggle over defence, technology, trade, disputed seas and the status of Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Collin Koh, a research fellow at Singapore's Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, said the video was aimed at highlighting China's growing prowess in long-range power projection. A handout photo shows US Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Keith Krach (left) gesturing before his departure from Taipei, Taiwan, on September 19
The H-6K is the latest model of the bomber, which is based on the 1950s vintage Soviet Tu-16
The Pentagon says China already outstrips the US in several areas of defence - claims Beijing furiously denies - and wants to double its stockpile of nuclear warheads.
Taiwan said today it has the 'right to self-defence and to counter-attack' after China flew nearly 40 warplanes over the Taiwan Strait in a show of force.
The island's defence ministry said it was facing a 'high frequency of harassment and threat from the enemy's warships and aircraft' amid high tensions between Taipei and Beijing, which claims Taiwan as its own renegade territory.
China's People's Liberation Army flew 18 warplanes over the mid-line of the Strait on Friday, followed by another 19 on Saturday, while US envoy Keith Krach was visiting the island.
Beijing also ramped up its rhetoric today by warning the US against helping Taiwan and saying that support for its independence was 'doomed to fail'.
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