Missile launcher Xining made its first live-fire missile testing in the Yellow Sea. (Photo : Twitter)
China's missile destroyer Xining recently conducted tests in the Yellow Sea. The live-fire exercise was done between China and Pyongyang.
Video footage of the exercise was aired by the China Central Television Station as well as a warning from Beijing to Pyongyang to stop its nuclear exercises.
According to China's Ministry of Defense, the Xining is "integrated with 'many new types of weaponry,' including main artillery on the deck, anti-aircraft and anti-missile close-in weapon system, torpedo and missile."
The statement added: "It has high informatization level, advanced stealth capability, and electromagnetic compatibility. The destroyer is mainly responsible for formation command, regional air defense, anti-submarine warfare and other missions."
Xining, a Type 052D-class guided-missile destroyer, was for the service of the North Sea Fleet of the PLA Navy in January.
Xiang Zhihong, a supervising officer from China's North Sea Fleet, said, "This live-fire exercise not only provided officers and sailors with an opportunity to fire the artillery but also tested and regulated their firing techniques and help them gather battling experience."
Pyongyang is reacting to the statement of U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, who said that the "era of strategic patience" is over. North Korea vowed to conduct weekly missile testing as a form of response.
North Korea tried to test a missile for the sixth time but failed as the missile blew five seconds after it was launched.
North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Han Song-Ryol issued a warning to the U.S.: "We'll be conducting more missile tests on a weekly, monthly and yearly basis."
Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump praised the Chinese government for declaring a stoppage in coal exports to North Korea.
Trump said, "Nobody has ever seen it like that. Nobody has ever seen such a positive response on our behalf from China."
North Korea is very dependent on China, with the "rogue nation" getting 80 percent of its imports from China.
