Quoting from a report published in the International Herald Leader, a newspaper under the auspices of the official news agency Xinhua, the WantChina Times on January 18, 2015, said that China's Dong-Feng 21 ballistic missile may have been deployed at the Changbai Mountains in the northeastern region of the country as a deterrent against Japan and Taiwan. It said that before the New Year, state broadcaster CCTV aired footage of a major People's Liberation Army winter drill which revealed a missile transportation vehicle of the Second Artillery Corps. Military analysts believe the vehicle was carrying the DF-21, a two-stage, solid-propellant, single-warhead medium-range ballistic missile developed by the China Changfeng Mechanics and Electronics Technology Academy. Based on other publicly available information, analysts speculate that the DF-21's launch position is now situated in the Changbai Mountains, along China's border with North Korea.
Photos released publicly by the PLA reveal that the DF-21's current missile launch position lies in a place that recently experienced significant snowfall. This is believed to match up with cold weather warning reports in northeast China between Dec. 25 and 27. The types of trees depicted in the photos are also said to be found predominantly in the Changbai range. More importantly, military experts say the Changbai Mountains is the only place in China from which the DF-21 can cover all key targets in Japan. In the event of a maritime conflict with Japan, Chinese experts say the DF-21 will be able to effectively seal off entry and exit points in the Sea of Japan, allowing the PLA to make up for relative weakness in naval power.
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