Satellite images appear to show mock-up US warships in China desert

China appears to have built full-scale mock-ups of US warships in a desert in the country's north-western Xinjiang region, satellite images show.

The US has warned that in recent months China has been rapidly expanding its military, including its nuclear capabilities, as tension builds in the South China Sea.

Earlier this year, China was suspected of carrying out a nuclear-capable hypersonic missile test - missiles that can fly in the upper atmosphere at more than five times the speed of sound - which prompted concern in Washington.

Beijing later denied the reports and said it had been a routine spacecraft check.