Dark clouds hang over Tiananmen Square in Beijing. (Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)
[People News] On June 22, the United States launched a precision airstrike codenamed Operation Midnight Hammer targeting Iranian nuclear facilities. Satellite imagery revealed dramatic changes at the underground Fordow nuclear site in Qom Province before and after the strike. Some commentators say this action by Trump has left Xi Jinping stunned, forcing Beijing to reassess Trump’s stance on the Taiwan Strait issue. U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine disclosed that the U.S. military has had its eyes not only on Iran but also on its other adversaries’ targets for 15 years.
During Operation Midnight Hammer on June 22, the U.S. deployed seven B-2 stealth bombers loaded with Massive Ordnance Penetrators (MOPs), also known as "bunker busters," to strike Iranian nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. Satellite images from a U.S. space tech firm revealed that after the strike, half of a mountain near Fordow was nearly flattened.
U.S. Monitored Fordow for 15 Years
At a June 26 Pentagon press conference, Gen. Caine said two analysts had spent 15 years studying the Fordow facility, strongly implying the U.S. had long anticipated this attack.
Back in 2009, the U.S. Defence Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) identified that Iran was secretly constructing a nuclear site beneath 800 meters of mountain rock. The U.S. concluded that no existing weapon could effectively destroy the site, prompting the launch of a highly classified program called Project Hammer.
Initially led by just two scientists, Project Hammer grew into a massive collaboration involving hundreds of defence contractors, geologists, supercomputer modellers, and pilots.
Gen. Caine revealed that the project used the most supercomputing power in the U.S. to simulate each bomb’s angle of impact, penetration depth, and detonation timing, ensuring total destruction in one strike.
The result was the 30,000-pound (13.6 metric tons) MOP, described by U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Whitkov as capable of delivering an “extinction-level strike.” Only the B-2 stealth bomber can deliver this weapon, designed to penetrate deeply buried facilities and fortified structures.
Caine said the operation went exactly as planned after years of preparation.
The airstrike shocked not only the Middle East but also rattled the Chinese regime. Taiwanese media reported that Xi Jinping was “scared stiff.” The Financial Times reported on June 26 that experts and U.S.–Taiwanese officials agreed that Operation Midnight Hammer disrupted Beijing’s assumption that Trump would avoid foreign military interventions. The operation forced China to reconsider Trump’s potential actions regarding Taiwan.
China’s Nuclear Bunkers Also Under Surveillance
At the same press conference, Gen. Caine stated, “Our adversaries should know that there are many such targets in the world. Our team has been watching them for 15 years—and will continue to do so.”
Commentator Jiang Feng, host of Jiang Feng Time, said that Caine’s remark is chilling for the CCP leadership. Fordow is just the first domino to fall. China’s underground command centers, missile silos, nuclear reactors, and military labs—hidden in places like the Qinling Mountains and the karst terrain of the Kunlun Mountains—have long been on the list.
According to Jiang, the U.S. just gave the world a template: no bunker is too deep, and even the darkest chambers can be illuminated. He suggests that intelligence on China's nuclear facilities has already leaked.
In 2019, Fang Fenghui, Chief of the Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission, was sentenced to life imprisonment for accepting bribes, offering bribes, and possessing a large amount of unexplained assets.
At the time of his arrest, Fang was believed to be involved in the cases of Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou, and suspected of plotting a coup. Commentator Jiang Feng pointed out that Fang was not only in charge of all major military operations, intelligence, and communications within the PLA, but also had comprehensive knowledge of China’s entire nuclear strike capability at the highest level.
Jiang analysed that for Fang Fenghui to risk launching a coup, he must have had a contingency plan. The only force he could trust, and one capable of countering the Chinese Communist Party, was the United States. “The U.S. had the ability to protect Fang from execution,” Jiang said, “and in exchange, revealing information about the CCP’s nuclear bunkers—its top leaders’ ultimate fallback plan—would be the most effective and straightforward bargaining chip.”
Following the U.S. bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities on June 26, Trump unexpectedly “revealed” at the White House that the U.S. had signed a trade agreement with the CCP on June 25. Although he didn’t disclose details, he emphasised that the deal would “open the door to China.” Details of the U.S.–China trade deal have yet to be officially released, but Reuters, citing anonymous White House officials, reported that China had agreed to implement the Geneva framework and accelerate rare earth exports to the United States. Jiang Feng sarcastically remarked that Xi Jinping had backed down—that he had “signed on his knees.”
Xi Jinping’s Doomsday Hideout — The Zhongnanhai Bunker
The CCP’s nuclear bunker beneath Beijing’s Western Hills—officially known as the Joint Command Headquarters of the Central Military Commission—was exposed years ago.
On January 30, the UK’s Financial Times cited several U.S. officials who disclosed that the American intelligence community is currently evaluating a set of satellite images obtained by the media. The images show a roughly 6-square-kilometre area about 30 kilometres southwest of Beijing, with several deeply excavated openings. Military experts refer to the site as “Beijing Military City,” suggesting it may be intended to house large, fortified underground bunkers, including facilities for military leaders to use during a nuclear war. The scale is said to be ten times that of the U.S. Pentagon. Reportedly, this is a facility that Xi Jinping has prepared in advance in the event of a war over Taiwan or even a nuclear conflict—a hiding or escape location believed to be the safest possible refuge for top CCP leadership in a doomsday scenario.
A Chinese researcher noted that the satellite images show all the hallmarks of a sensitive military installation, including high-strength reinforced concrete and deeply dug tunnels.
According to assessments, the main construction work at the site began around mid-last year. British media reported that the site was particularly busy earlier this January. When journalists visited the area, security guards at the entrance stated, “No entry allowed,” and refused to discuss the project.
Some analysts believe this facility is intended to replace the current military command centre located in Beijing’s Western Hills, which was built during the height of the Cold War several decades ago. However, other experts are sceptical, suggesting that the satellite imagery indicates the area may not be suitable for underground bunker construction, and speculating that it could instead be an administrative complex or a large-scale training base.
The year 2027 marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army, and some analysts have pointed out that the CCP may attempt a military invasion of Taiwan around that time. This new nuclear bunker may at least be part of those preparations.△
(Originally published by People News)
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