China's Dongfeng 31A missiles, 2009 (Photo courtesy of China News Service)

Taipei, April 16 (CNA) Unidentified lights have been seen over the Bohai Sea at night, which could be a sign that China is testing new nuclear missiles, Duowei News, a Chinese-language media based in New York, cited Chinese websites as reporting Tuesday.

The Bohai Sea is the innermost gulf of the Yellow Sea on China's northeastern coast.

The Nezavisimaya Gazeta, a Russian newspaper, reported a day earlier that China must have developed new multiple-warhead intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), and has the ability to overwhelm U.S. missile defense systems and launch counter nuclear attacks.

The Wall Street Journal, meanwhile, reported that the U.S. now has 806 ICBMs deployed, while Russia has a total of 491 and China has only between 50 and 75.

Some experts have said that China plans to increase its deployed ICBMs to 500.

In addition, it plans to develop multiple-warhead ICBMs to penetrate the U.S. anti-missile system with the hope of maintaining a low-degree nuclear intimidation capability so as to ensure that it has the ability to counterattack in the event of a U.S. nuclear strike.

Meanwhile that same day, China issued a white paper on national defense in which it elaborated on its new peacetime security challenges and the diversified employment of its armed forces to cope with such challenges.

Wu Xihua, vice director of the Emergency Response Office of the People's Liberation Army's General Staff Headquarters, said China is opposed to war.

But he also said that if someone "imposes war upon us, we have to be able to fight resolutely and win."

He reaffirmed China's determination to safeguard its core interests of sovereignty, security and territorial integrity.

(By Zep Hu, Chiu Kuo-chiang and Lilian Wu)
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