Dr Shen Ming-Shih from Taiwan’s Institute for Nationwide Protection and Safety Analysis mentioned it was attainable for water for use to keep away from corrosion by liquid propellants.
A number of on-line commentators have additionally tried to dissect the US intelligence evaluation.
In an op-ed for the Hong Kong-based Asia Instances platform, safety professional Stephen Bryen agreed that storing missiles loaded with gasoline might result in corrosion of inner tanks and plumbing.
They’re normally saved empty till wanted, and intentionally placing water in rockets could be a prison act of sabotage, mentioned the founding head of the US’ Protection Know-how Safety Administration, who referred to as the story “pretend”.
However Professor Jeffrey Lewis, a member of the US State Division’s Worldwide Safety Advisory Board, informed The Warfare Zone journal that “watering down and even absolutely changing gasoline with water is a typical type of army corruption all over the world”.
What else might have prompted the PLA purge?
China has not given any particular causes for the elimination of the highest army figures. However analysts like Dr Char say proof factors in direction of corruption over tools procurement.
He famous that in July and proper earlier than the wave of eliminations, the Central Army Fee – China’s prime defence company – introduced it was soliciting assist from the general public to uncover violations of procurement actions courting again to 2017.
Since President Xi Jinping took energy in 2012, he has launched into a wide-ranging anti-corruption crackdown within the Communist Social gathering and authorities, with the PLA usually focused.
There’s additionally a distant risk that the newest shakeup goals to handle a scarcity of self-discipline amongst some PLA elites, mentioned Dr Char, whose analysis focuses on ties between the CCP and the army.
These might embody these answerable for the “spy” balloon that flew over the US early in 2023, momentarily threatening to derail Sino-American relations.
“Such periodic clean-ups serve to impose psychological intimidation on the PLA and assist reinvigorate the commander-in-chief’s management over his armed servants,” Dr Char added.
