Large enough to fit 10 Pentagons, the new super large facility should not be a surprise—it is the logical next step of the Chinese regime’s long program of underground facilities. The command center is on the western outskirts of the capital city of Beijing.
In about 2011, stories began to appear about China’s “Underground Great Wall.”
When completed, this facility—now dubbed the “Beijing Military City” by Western military analysts—will be the largest underground command center in the world, possibly in history.
Western Equivalents Are Limited in Comparison
Zhang has described the Beijing Military City as defensive in nature. That is one viewpoint, but the facility should also be compared to those in the West. The challenge is that there is no equivalent command center in the West in modern times.
Most of the Cold War facilities in the West closed because there was a perception that there was no compelling reason to keep them open and because there were enormous maintenance costs to keep them operational. The reality is that all of these Western facilities, whether they are active or museum pieces, would fill up only a small portion of the operational side of the underground Beijing Military City currently under construction.
The Chinese Regime’s New Underground Headquarters
The message being sent by Beijing’s construction is that the Chinese regime is preparing for conflict.
Beijing is building and expanding underground facilities as protected wartime command and control centers to ensure continuity of government. The West has similar facilities, but most have been converted into museums that would need significant modernization and time if they were to be brought back into service.
All viewpoints are personal and do not reflect the viewpoints of any organization.
This article first appeared in Epoch Times and was reprinted with permission, with minor editorial adjustments for clarity and formatting.
