The Panda Awakens And Just May Become More Aggressive In The South China Sea

China has released footage of its first interception test of a mid-air ballistic missile, destroying a target miles above Earth. 

Footage of the experiment, which took place in 2010, has never been made public until now.

 According to Chinese news agency CCTV, Xu Chunguang, an expert working at a military base in northwest China, said:

 "All of our research is meant to solve problems that may crop up in future actual combats." 

It reportedly took researchers another three years to develop the core technologies to improve the system. 

A second successful test was reportedly conducted in January 2013.

 China's decision to finally release the footage could be seen as a warning shot to the U.S., which was critical of China for not notifying the Pentagon of the tests at the time.

 In May, China announced it would send submarines armed with nuclear missiles into the Atlantic Ocean, arguing it had little choice if America continued to advance its weapons systems.

 China has recently denounced South Korea's decision to deploy a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system to counter threats from North Korea, saying that it harmed the foundation of their mutual trust.

 China has completed production of the world's largest amphibious aircraft, state media has said, the latest effort in the country's program to wean itself off dependence on foreign aviation firms. 

The state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) unveiled the first of the new planes, dubbed the AG600, Saturday in the southern port city of Zhuhai, the official Xinhua news agency reported. 

The aircraft, which has a maximum range of 4,500 km (2,800 miles), is intended for fighting forest fires and performing marine rescues, it said.

 At around the size of a Boeing 737, it is far larger than any other plane built for marine take off and landing, Xinhua quoted AVIC's deputy general manager Geng Ruguang as saying. 

The AG600 could potentially extend the Asian giant's ability to conduct a variety of operations in the South China Sea, where it has built a series of artificial islands featuring air strips, among other infrastructure with the potential for either civilian or military use.