Missile Defense And The Sino-Russian Partnership
China and Russia are poised to conclude a major arms deal substantially bolstering the PRC’s missile defense capabilities, and its threat to Taiwan. According to the August 24th edition of Russia’s St. Petersburg Times, a new arms agreement between Rosoboronexport, Russia’s state arms dealer, and the Chinese Defense Ministry is currently in the works. As part of the deal, Beijing, which is already Moscow’s top arms client, will receive up to eight new batteries of Russia’s S-300PMU air defense systems, touted by Kremlin officials as superior to the U.S. Patriot. China, which already has 12 S-300 batteries, is expected to deploy the new units of the sophisticated theater anti-aircraft and anti-missile defenses opposite Taiwan, as protection for the growing number of short-range missiles already arrayed by the PRC against the island nation.