Dr Shen Ming-Shih from Taiwan’s Institute for National Defense and Security Research said it was possible for water to be used to avoid corrosion by liquid propellants.
Several online commentators have also attempted to dissect the US intelligence assessment.
In an op-ed for the Hong Kong-based Asia Times platform, security expert Stephen Bryen agreed that storing missiles loaded with fuel could lead to corrosion of internal tanks and plumbing.
They are usually kept empty until needed, and deliberately putting water in rockets would be a criminal act of sabotage, said the founding head of the US’ Defense Technology Security Administration, who called the story “fake”.
But Professor Jeffrey Lewis, a member of the US State Department’s International Security Advisory Board, told The War Zone magazine that “watering down or even fully replacing fuel with water is a common form of military corruption around the world”.
What else could have prompted the PLA purge?
China has not given any specific reasons for the removal of the top military figures. But analysts like Dr Char say evidence points towards corruption over equipment procurement.
He noted that in July and right before the wave of eliminations, the Central Military Commission – China’s top defence agency – announced it was soliciting support from the public to uncover violations of procurement activities dating back to 2017.
Since President Xi Jinping took power in 2012, he has embarked on a wide-ranging anti-corruption crackdown in the Communist Party and government, with the PLA often targeted.
There is also a remote possibility that the latest shakeup aims to address a lack of discipline among some PLA elites, said Dr Char, whose research focuses on ties between the CCP and the military.
These could include those responsible for the “spy” balloon that flew over the US early in 2023, momentarily threatening to derail Sino-American relations.
“Such periodic clean-ups serve to impose psychological intimidation on the PLA and help reinvigorate the commander-in-chief’s control over his armed servants,” Dr Char added.