This is the moment over 1,000 army cadets of China’s ‘Rocket Force’ carry out assassination training amid growing tensions with rival nations.
The exercise was carried out at the PLA (People's Liberation Army) Rocket Force University of Engineering located in the district of Baqiao in the city of Xi'an in the Chinese province of Shaanxi.
The state university is run by the People's Liberation Army Rocket Force, the fourth branch of the PLA that controls China's arsenal of nuclear and conventional ballistic missiles.
The university said over 1,000 new cadets carried out ‘assassination training’ to strengthen their fighting spirit and cultivate braveness.
The PLA released footage of the exercise on social media on 21st October.
The footage shows rows of cadets following instructions and carrying out killing exercises with a rifle and bayonet.
The footage begins with numerous soldiers all standing to attention in lines in what appears to be a large park and carrying rifles with bayonets attached to them.
The footage then shows them striking up a combat posture as they will shout in unison.
The footage then pans across the soldiers as they thrust their weapons forwards while again shouting in unison.
The soldiers then turn around and attack a mock enemy in a different direction. The soldiers then practice some coordinated thrusts and lunges as the footage ends.
The video was released at a time when tensions are rising between China and the US with President Biden reportedly planning to organise a summit with Chinese officials after President Xi Jinping said he would not be attending the Group of 20 summit in person in Rome this weekend.
A decision by the Biden administration to not remove President Trump-era tariffs on Chinese products until Beijing keeps to its trade commitments has also caused friction between the two superpowers.
Meanwhile, tensions between China and Taiwan are said to be at their worst for 40 years after China sent a record number of fighter jets into Taiwan's air defence zone for four days in a row earlier this month.
The top US general has called China's recent suspected hypersonic missile test similar to a 'Sputnik moment', in reference to the Soviet satellite that sparked the Cold War arms race.
The US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley said on Wednesday that "what we saw was a very significant event of a test of a hypersonic weapon system. And it is very concerning."
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