Video Reveals China’s Massive Military Site, 10 Times the Size of the Pentagon

Timelapse images reveal the rapid development of a massive Chinese military complex, which U.S. officials believe will be at least ten times larger than the Pentagon.

According to a recent report by the Financial Times, citing insights from both current and former U.S. officials, intelligence agencies are closely monitoring the 1,500-acre site in China. Dubbed “Beijing Military City,” the facility features elements suggesting that Chinese authorities are preparing for a potential nuclear conflict with the United States.

According to satellite images from the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-2 program, the construction started last year, roughly 20 miles southwest of Beijing.

Experts, analyzing the images, pointed to deep excavations that may hint at the building of fortified bunkers to be used in order to protect China’s military leadership during wartime – perhaps in case of a nuclear first strike.

It’s like underground bunkers that Chairman Mao and top leaders used in the 1969 border conflict with the Soviet Union,” said Lyle Morris, a senior fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute.

Sharing his views on X, Morris wrote: “One thing I can say with near certainty: deep bunkering looks like preparation for a nuclear C2 command. Given the CCP’s deep paranoia about a US first strike on the Mainland, this will be a command and control centre for all high-ranking CCP civilian and PLA leaders in case of a nuclear war or crisis. China does not want to have a repeat of 1969.”

Paris-based think tank Institut Montaigne policy analyst Mathieu Duchatel also weighed in on X, saying, “The scale is astonishing, and seeing it built in Xiangshan is striking if you’ve been there. But what this reveals- that China isn’t just seeking military parity with the U.S., but superiority, and that its leadership remains vulnerable to a disarming first strike-is something we already know.”

Dennis Wilder, former CIA deputy assistant director for East Asia and the Pacific, tells the Financial Times, “If confirmed, this newly developed underground command bunker for China’s military leadership, including President Xi in his role as chairman of the Central Military Commission, underscores Beijing’s ambition to build not just a world-class conventional military force but also an advanced nuclear warfighting capability.

For context, the Pentagon is the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense, located in Arlington, Virginia. It is one of the largest office buildings in the world and a key hub for Washington‘s foreign policy decisions.