China's latest act of aggression arrives after months of military posturing and bellicose rhetoric.
In October, China sent a surveillance ship to Hawaiian waters for the very first time in an unprecedented move which was described as a provocative retaliation to the U.S. naval presence in the East China Sea.
A lengthy editorial which appeared in Chinese state media last month explained how the Chinese military's current reformation process was part of a move by President Xi Jinping to prepare the People's Liberation Army for war in response to US aggression in the Asia Pacific, developments which have prompted "major changes" in China's national security situation.
Strident rhetoric about Beijing's ability to attack US military bases in the Western Pacific, as well as the release of a map showing the locations of major U.S. cities and how they would be impacted by a nuclear strike launched from the PLA's strategic submarine force also turned heads.
Following discussion in state media about plans to to turn the moon into a Star Wars-style "death star" from which the PLA could launch missiles against any target on Earth, a display to promote China's Jade Rabbit Moon rover also included a background photograph of a mushroom cloud over Europe.