Nuclear bunker for Chinese top leaders released

Nuclear bunker for Chinese top leaders released. January. 08, 2018 08:41. by Sung-Ha Joo zsh75@donga.com.

A nuclear bunker, or the last bastion for China’s top leadership is built within the world’s most deeply buried caves that extend more than 2 kilometers underground, in the event of a serious threat such as a nuclear strike, Hong Kong’s English language newspaper South China Morning Post reported on Sunday.

According to the newspaper, the nuclear bunker is located under the Xishan or Western Hills National Forest Park about 20 kilometers northwest of Zhongnanhai, the central government’s headquarters in downtown Beijing. The bunker, which is part of the Central Military Commission’s Joint Battle Command Center, is reportedly for China’s top leaders including President Xi Jinping who will control the Chinese forces in an emergency. The command center is referred to as the “brain” of the People’s Liberation Army because it is where all military decisions are made and its daily operations include analyzing military intelligence, monitoring activities across China’s five battle zones and issuing orders to military operations at home and abroad.

The fallout shelter has reportedly had upgrades in recent years. The shelter is situated near the underground aquifer that has a stable supply of drinking water for a million people in time of nuclear war, said the newspaper. There is also a water treatment system to filter radioactive particles and pollutants using a fine membrane. “China has developed the world’s best technology and equipment for exactly this purpose,” said Liu Yong, a nuclear scientist at the University of South China in Hengyang, Hunan province. The inside of the bunker is known to be wide enough to carry inter-continental ballistic missiles, tanks and planes.

China is not the only country with a doomsday bunker for its leadership. Among many large-scale bunkers are the Raven Rock Mountain Complex run by the U.S. military in Pennsylvania and the North American Aerospace Defense Command under the Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado.