China denied Friday reports it put cruise-missile-capable bombers on high alert for a crisis on the Korean Peninsula.

“The reports are not true,” the Chinese Ministry of National Defense said Friday. “The Chinese army is maintaining a normal combat readiness and training state on the border between China and North Korea.”

The U.S. detected signs that China had mobilized its bombers for a “a North Korea contingency,’ a U.S. defense official told CNN Thursday.

(This first appeared on The Daily Caller News Foundation site here.)

Defense officials told Fox News the same, adding: “It’s hard to divine their intentions.”

A few hours after the new broke, President Donald Trump, without referencing Chinese military actions specifically, said: “Some very unusual moves have been made over the past two or three hours” by China.

In recent weeks, there have been reports that China moved 150,000 troops to the Chinese-North Korean border and put all five of its military regions on high alert for a possible conflict or emergency situation on the peninsula. Some reports have proven untrue, and others are difficult to verify.

It is unclear whether the Chinese defense ministry is covering its tracks or the latest reports are indeed inaccurate.

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