Amid the popularity of the mobile gaming app Pokemon Go, a number of Chinese netizens have expressed their concerns, noting that its real purpose is to explore the country's secret bases, online news portal Geek.com reported.
Since the game has become a global phenomenon, though it is still not available in China, conspiracy theories have surfaced on different online and social media platforms.
"Don't play Pokemon GO!!! [It was made] so the U.S. and Japan can explore China's secret bases!," one Weibo user posted.
For starters, the latest game craze is "an reality game that tracks your location and lets you capture magical beasts," the article wrote.
The product was made through the partnership of Google subsidiary and augment reality games expert Niantic and Nintendo, the owner and creator of the Pokemon license.
Conspiracy theorists point out that the problem with the game is precisely its location tracking feature. They claim that if a rare Pokemon is dropped in an area where people do not usually go, a player might wander into these restricted areas.
Others also remarked that a top secret location can be found through the game once a rare Pokemon shows up and not one would track it down.
"When war breaks out, Japan and the U.S. can easily target their guided missiles and China will have been destroyed by the invasion of a Japanese-American game," another netizen posted.
China is regarded as the world's largest market for mobile games and applications. Nonetheless, the article noted that it is highly unlikely that the popular game will be released in the country anytime soon.
Currently, most Google services are blocked in the country. The game is mainly anchored on data coming from Google Maps and Ingress, another reality game from Niantic -- both of which are not available for access in China.