China unveils anti-missile test after Taiwan sale

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China unveils anti-missile test after Taiwan sale

Chris Buckley
BEIJING
Mon Jan 11, 2010 8:11pm EST



BEIJING (Reuters) - China successfully tested emerging military technology aimed at destroying missiles in mid-air, the government said, while state media warned ties with Washington would be hurt by U.S. missile sales to Taiwan.

The brief report on the "ground-based mid-course missile interception technology" from the state-run Xinhua news agency gave few details, and did not specify whether any missile had been destroyed in the test, staged on Chinese soil.

"The test has achieved the expected objective," said the report, without describing that objective.

"The test is defensive in nature and is not targeted at any country," it quoted the Chinese Foreign Ministry as saying.

The announcement came soon after the United States last week cleared a sale of advanced Patriot air defense missiles to Taiwan despite opposition from rival Beijing.

China's ire over U.S. arms sales to Taiwan shows no signs of escalating into outright military confrontation, but could cast a chill on relations with Washington at a time when both governments are also wary about trade disputes and economic strains.

China claims Taiwan is an illegitimate breakaway from mainland rule and opposes U.S. arms sales to the island as an intrusion into a domestic dispute.

MISSILES POINTED AT TAIWAN

The Patriot "PAC-3" missiles can destroy missiles in mid-air, and could be used against the thousand or more offensive missiles that Taiwan says China has along its coast facing the island.

A commentary from the Xinhua agency on Monday warned of broader fallout from the Patriot missile deal.

"Each time the United States has sold weapons to Taiwan, there has been huge damage to China-U.S. relations," said the commentary, issued separately from the report on the anti-missile test. "This U.S. arms sale to Taiwan will be no exception."

The commentary accused the Obama administration of betraying a commitment to respect each country's "core interests."

"Immediately halt weapons sales to Taiwan to avoid damaging cooperation between China and the United States in important areas," it said. It did not specify those areas.

China curtailed military-to-military contacts with the United States after then President George W. Bush notified Congress in October 2008 of plans to sell Taiwan a long-delayed arms package valued at up to $6.4 billion.

Senior Chinese People's Liberation Army officials have also urged Beijing to punish Washington and U.S. firms for arms deals with the disputed island.

"We have the power and ability to adopt counter-measures (against U.S. arms sales to Taiwan)," Jin Yinan, a PLA major-general and professor at China's National Defense University wrote in a Chinese newspaper, the Study Times, earlier this month. "We must use counter-measures to make the other side pay a corresponding price and suffer corresponding punishment."

PLA officials and reports in recent years have said developing anti-missile technology is one focus of defense spending, which has grown by double-digits over many years.

China has claimed sovereignty over self-ruled Taiwan since 1949, when Communist forces won the Chinese civil war and fleeing Nationalists gained control of the island. Beijing has vowed to bring Taiwan under its rule, by force if necessary.

The United States switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979. But Washington remains Taiwan's biggest military backer and says it is obliged to help the island defend itself.

(Reporting by Chris Buckley; Editing by Bill Tarrant)

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China: Interceptor Missile Tested

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: January 11, 2010

China said that its military intercepted a missile in midflight on Monday in a test of new technology that comes amid heightened tensions over Taiwan.

The official Xinhua News Agency reported that “ground-based midcourse missile interception technology” was tested in Chinese territory and had “achieved the expected objective.” China has complained recently about the sale of American weapons to Taiwan, including PAC-3 air defense missiles.

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China’s Conventional Cruise and Ballistic Missile Force Modernization and Deployment

Publication: China Brief Volume: 10 Issue: 1
January 7, 2010 01:11 PM Age: 5 days
Category: China Brief, Home Page, Military/Security, China and the Asia-Pacific, Russia
By: Martin Andrew



The People's Republic of China (PRC) 60th National Day, which took place on October 1, 2009, was lauded by the Chinese-media for its display of the military's ‘precision striking capabilities.’ According to Yu Jixun, deputy commander of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Second Artillery Corps—China's strategic missile forces—its conventional missiles "could launch precision strikes in all weathers and directions" (Xinhua News Agency, October 1, 2009). Indeed, new Chinese-built ballistic and cruise missiles exhibit the significant stride made by Chinese defense-industries in missile technology and development, but more importantly, the advent of a formidable class of Chinese-made conventional cruise and ballistic missile force underscore another element of the changing strategic landscape in the Asia-Pacific region (China Military Online, October 2, 2009).

The Soviet Union was able to use its large arsenal of theater ballistic missiles to threaten all of China during the Cold War, while leaving its strategic missile and bomber forces for targets in the United States and elsewhere. After more than two decades, the role has reversed and the leadership in Moscow is well aware of its increasing vulnerability to the plethora of Chinese theater nuclear ballistic and cruise missiles that are coming into service (RIA Novosti, October 17, 2007).

When the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty between the United States and the former Soviet Union came into force in December 1987, China witnessed a major threat to its cities along with its nuclear and conventional forces rescinded. At the same time, China was modernizing its theater ballistic missile forces by introducing the 2,150 km range DF-21 (CSS-5) mobile solid fuel intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) while selling ballistic technology and missiles abroad. Saudi Arabia received CSS-2 IRBMs and Iran is believed to have received technology to produce the DF-15 (CSS-6) and DF-11 (CSS-7) short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs). The Chinese have upgraded the DF-21 to 2,500 km and have developed new systems that could easily place large parts of Russia under nuclear threat from mobile launchers situated deep inside China.

The PLA’s new strategic weapons systems have the range and accuracy to accurately attack hardened targets like airfields and command and control centers in the Asia-Pacific region. The DF-21 IRBM and the DF-15D have been accurized in recent years, which are the Corps' support weapon for the PLA’s new heavy mechanized corps. Warheads, similar to the synthetic aperture radar guided earth penetrator employed on the Pershing II IRBM have been observed utilizing satellite guidance updates from China’s own Beidou system (International Assessment and Strategy Center, July 24, 2007). The appearance of an accurized Chinese IRBM and cruise missiles might be a factor in President Vladimir Putin's threats to pull Russia out of the INF treaty in October 2007 (RIA Novosti, October 25, 2007).

The C602 Long-range Anti-ship Cruise Missile and the CJ-10 ground launched cruise missile are two systems that would give Russian air defense planners nightmares [1]. The C602 and especially the CJ-10 missile could easily be mistaken for the U.S. BGM-109G Gryphon GLCM that was scrapped under the 1987 INF Treaty. The technology for China to develop these missiles into a GLCM was given a huge boost with the illegal transfer of six Russian designed Kh 55 (AS-15 Kent) air launched cruise missiles from Ukraine in 2000 (International Assessment and Strategy Center, June 22, 2006). Chinese missile designers received the same missile from which the 3,000 km range Soviet SSC-X-4 ‘Slingshot’ KV-500 GLCM was developed, which were destroyed along with their TELs under the INF Treaty (Missilethreat.com).

CJ-10 Ground Launched Cruise Missile

The Chang Jian (Long Sword) CJ-10 (DF-10) long-range cruise missile system reportedly started trials with the Second Artillery Force in 2004 and between 50 and 250 missiles had been deployed along with between 20 and 30 launch vehicles as of September 2009 [2]. The Chinese media initially revealed their existence during the 60th Anniversary Parade. The CJ-10 is identified by three long launch canisters, square in circumference, mounted on the rear of the Chinese WS 2400 8 x 8 tractor-elevator-launcher (TEL), and the missile has a reported range of over 1,500km and up to 2,000 km.

The DF-10 is a land-based variant of the Kh-55/AS-15 Kent, and at least six were illegally transferred from Ukraine in 2000 (International Assessment and Strategy Center, February 10, 2009). A Chinese article on the CJ-10 commented on the comparison made by Western military analysts between the CJ-10 and the defunct United States BGM-109G Gryphon, and its Soviet equivalent, the 3,000 km range SSC-X-4 ‘Slingshot,’ which was developed from the Kh-55 [3]. The article also discussed Western observers' comments on the illegal transfer of the Kh-55 and did not deny that the transfer or the idea that the CJ-10 is based on the Kh-55.

The missile uses both GLONASS and GPS satellite systems for guidance with four different types of warheads available—a heavy variant weighing 500 kg, and three 350 kg variants: high explosive blast, sub-munition and earth penetrator [4].

The CJ-10, along with the introduction of the C-602 anti-ship long-range cruise missile and the satellite guided DF-15D intermediate range ballistic missile, may be further reasons why Russia wanted to scrap the INF Treaty.

Russia’s Response

China’s IRBM and cruise missile programs have caught Moscow's attention, but Russian forces are limited in their ability to respond with a counter strike to a TBM or cruise missile attack, short of using their strategic bomber forces or inter-continental ballistic missile systems (ICBMs). The lack of a credible intermediate range strike system against China and possibly other nations—although it would be difficult to conceive of another—is another possible reason behind Russian threats to withdraw from the 1987 INF Treaty (RIA Novosti, November 14, 2007). The technology is readily available. The Iskander-M mobile short-range ballistic missile system has a range of 400 km, which could easily be modified to carry a nuclear warhead in excess of 500 km with high accuracy, if Russia were to withdraw from the INF treaty [5].

If Russia were to come under the threat of a conventional Chinese GLCM or IRBM attack, hunting them down before they launched their missiles by air would be almost impossible. Su-34 and Tu-22M3 bombers could be used to hunt down the TELs and resupply vehicles after a launch but this would be fruitless given prior Western experience in hunting elusive targets from the air. The Russian military does not have anywhere near the kind of ISR assets that the Allies had in the 1991 Persian Gulf War, yet ‘The Great Scud Hunt’ achieved very little tactically given the effort involved and this was essentially in a desert environment [6]. In over 3,000 sorties conducted over Kosovo during the 77 day Operation Allied Force, NATO aircraft succeeded in only destroying 26 tanks out of the 440 in what was a very small area geographically. Serb ground forces, which consist mainly of company strength units of 80 – 150 personnel, with around six armored vehicles, operating autonomously or semi-autonomously of each other were hard to locate by their size and movement. Operating in woods they were not a large target, and by not moving in a set direction, they did not allow the formation of a clear intelligence picture (Aviation Week & Space Technology, May 3, 1999). Chinese DF-21 and GLCM detachments might be even smaller.

Russian ground based defense against ballistic and cruise missiles is centered on the in-service S-300 series and the recently introduced S-400 Triumf surface-to-air missile system, all of which have an anti-ballistic missile capability [7]. The S-300 PMU-1 and PMU-2 can intercept DF-11 and DF-15 SRBMs, and the S-300VM and S-400 Triumf systems are capable of intercepting a multiple IRBM attack by all DF-21 model IRBMs. Whether or not there are currently enough deployed, or ready to be procured, along with their radars to protect Russian air space against the plethora of Chinese theater ballistic and cruise missile systems becoming available, is open to question.

The Russians clearly regard the threat from China’s ballistic and cruise missiles as serious, deploying S-400 missile and radar systems along its eastern borders ostensively to protect Russia from wayward North Korean missiles (RIA Novosti, August 26, 2009). Interestingly, no North Korean missiles are recorded as having accidentally landed in Russia. North Korean missiles are launched eastwards toward the Yellow Sea away from Russia and China. The S-400 deployment did however coincide nicely with China’s October 1 parade.

Taiwan Strait – New Rocket Systems Taking Over from Ballistic Missiles?

A 2008 U.S. government estimate reported that all of China’s 300 km range DF-11 and 600 km range DF-15 SRBMs facing Taiwan amounted to a combined total of between 970 and 1,070 missiles along with 200 GLCMs (Annual Report to Congress: Military Power of the People's Republic of China 2008). The amount of these launchers facing Taiwan is around 210 to 250, assuming each DF-15 TEL is capable of firing three missiles, and each DF-11 can fire five missiles before needing to be refurbished. For every DF-15 TEL deployed there needs to be one missile-reloading vehicle and two for each DF-11, as each reloading vehicle is assumed to carry two missiles. Add a command and communications vehicle or two and this means a lot of road movement by large vehicles that could easily attract attention.

The PLA can now start to remove the earlier models of their DF-11 and DF-15 missiles as new developments in Chinese self-propelled multiple rocket systems have created more survivable, easily deployed systems that can overwhelm existing air defenses within their range. The WS-2 Wheeled Self-Propelled Wheeled Multiple Launched Rocket System uses a six-tube launcher, on a simple 6 x 6 truck. The rocket has a 200 kg warhead, a peak speed of Mach 5.6 and a maximum range of 200 km with the newer WS-2D quoted as having a maximum range of 380 km [8]. The WS-3, the GPS guided version of the WS-2 has the same performance figures, including warhead weight, and with a CEP of 20 meters that could easily, and far more cheaply, swamp Taiwan’s defenses than the DF-11 and DF-15 ballistic missile systems

The numbers of missiles and TELs quoted in the Department of Defense report to Congress are taken as accurate by many observers, and undoubtedly, the majority of China’s SRBMs are facing Taiwan, but there are others. There would be a few launchers and missiles for use for test firing as part of their reliability program and to trial new warheads. More importantly at least 12 DF-15D TELs and their attendant vehicles are in Xinjiang as part of the PLA’s new heavy mechanized corps [9]. Some of the DF-15 TELs deployed to Leiping would be for China’s heavy corps in Shenyang and dedicated for use against North Korea. A critical issue for Taiwan's future defense is how to counter China’s accurized warheads.

The Future

China’s ballistic and cruise missile forces have increased in capability over the past decade and are now starting to pose a considerable conventional threat to nations within Southeast, South and West Asia as well as European Russia. With the expected deployment of satellite guided multiple rocket launchers opposite Taiwan, the DF-11 and DF-15 missiles would no longer be required and can be deployed opposite India and the South China Sea. The DF-15s could be refurbished to carry a nuclear or precision-guided conventional warhead. The over the horizon radar (OTHR) system under development on Hainan Island when fully developed would provide the PLA with early warnings of incoming ballistic and cruise missiles, aircraft and would provide accurate targeting of United States carrier battle groups [10]. The latter is of special concern to the United States as is China’s continued development and deployment of new ballistic and cruise missile systems, as its regional neighbors pursue an arms race, equipping their forces with both offensive and defensive systems to counter China’s growth in strategic weapons.

Notes

1. ‘Zhongguo C602 xinxing yuancheng fanchuan daodan,’ (C602 new type long distance anti-ship
Missile), Bingqi Zhishi, (Ordnance Knowledge), 12A/2008, Number 286, p. 2.
2. ‘“Zhenmi zhishuai” zai puguang ___ Cong Guoqing 60 zhuonian Dayuebing kan jiefang dier paobing budui’, Tanke Zhuangjia Cheliang, 2009 Niandi, 11 Qi, Zhongdi 295 Qi,pp. 22-25.
3. ‘Lingshou bian guojia “youlu zhongliang” ___ haiwai pojie Zhongguo CJ-10 luji xunhang daodan,’ Tanke Zhuangjia Cheliang, 2009 Niandi,12 Qi, Zhongdi 297 Qi, pp. 15-18.
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.
6. Rosenaeu, William. Special Operations Forces and Elusive Enemy Ground Targets: Lessons fromVietnam and the Persian Gulf War, RAND, Santa Monica, 2002, pp. 4 0 – 43.
7. NATO reporting names for the S-300 PMU-1 is SA-10d Grumble; the S-300PMU-1 is SA-20 Gargoyle; the S-400 is SA-21 Growler; and the S-300VM is SA-23 Giant/Gladiator. Performance figures for the S-300 series are from taken from ‘S300VM (Antey-2500)’, S-300PMU-1 Air Defense Systems and Favorite Long Range Air Defense System’ in ‘Air Defense Systems’, Rosobornexport Catalogue, Rosobornexport, Moscow, 2003, pp, 10-13.
8. ‘“Zhongguo Weishi” xilie yuan chengduo guohuojian wuqi xitong’, (“Chinese protect soldiers” series long range rocket weapon system Bingqi Zhishi, 2009 Niandi, 1A Qi, Zhongdi 260, pp. 30 – 32.
9. Wang Hui, ZTZ-98 zhuzhantanke zhuangjia, (ZTZ-98 Armored Main Battle Tank), Inner Mongolia Cultural Publishing Company, 2002, p. 74.
10. China’s OTHR system interferes with HAM radio operators who discuss it on their QRZ Internet forum. ‘Ever hear of the “Chinese Dragon”?’ (over the horizon radar? Annoying!, QRZ Forums, http:forums.qrz.com/showthread.php?.s=856c90d1e521d5685c8eff9084c65fe&t=1730188page=2, accessed February 22, 2009.

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China says successfully tests missile system

(AFP) – 17 hour ago

BEIJING — China has successfully intercepted a missile in mid-flight, state media said on Tuesday, in a test of its advanced air defence capabilities amid tensions over US arms sales to Taiwan.

"China conducted a test on ground-based midcourse missile interception technology within its territory. The test has achieved the expected objective," Xinhua news agency said of Monday's test.

"The test is defensive in nature and is not targeted at any country," it added.

The news comes shortly after a US official in Taipei said the Pentagon had approved the sale of Patriot missile equipment to Taiwan as part of a package passed by Congress more than a year ago.

Beijing -- which considers Taiwan part of its territory and has vowed to take the island back, by force if necessary -- has repeatedly voiced its protest over the sales and urged Washington to cancel the deal.

China's defence ministry had warned at the weekend that it reserved the right to take unspecified action if Washington followed through with the sale, which it called a "severe obstacle" to China-US military ties.

The United States is the leading arms supplier to Taiwan, even though it switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979.

The Chinese government has poured money into its military in recent years as part of a major modernisation drive.

China's military spending rose 15.3 percent in 2009 to 69 billion dollars, according to a budget submitted to parliament in March, the latest in a string of double-digit increases.

Amid growing concern overseas about China's military intentions, Beijing stresses the defensive nature of its armed forces.

The Global Times quoted senior military strategist Yang Chengjun as saying that the test had "ushered China into a new phase in terms of missile interception technologies".

"China needs an improved capability and more means of military defence as the country faces increasing security threats," Yang was quoted as saying.

Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved.

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From Times Online
January 12, 2010
China tests missile technology after Taiwan-US deal

Jane Macartney in Beijing
Comments

China has carried out a successful test of new technology to destroy missiles in mid-air, just days after the United States angered Beijing by selling Patriot missiles to arch-foe Taiwan.

The Foreign Ministry repeated Beijing’s long-held mantra that yet another display of the advancing military prowess of the People’s Liberation Army was not aimed at any country.

It said China had used “ground-based mid-course missile interception technology" but did not specify whether a missile had been destroyed.

The brief three-line report said: "The test has achieved the expected objective. The test is defensive in nature and is not targeted at any country," it quoted the Chinese Foreign Ministry as saying.

While such tests certainly take time to set up, it seemed likely that the timing was linked to China’s rage at last week’s announcement of the sale of US weaponry to Taiwan, including PAC-3 air defence missiles.

These sales are driven by threats from China to use force to bring the island back under its control and which are backed up by an estimated 1,300 Chinese ballistic missiles positioned along the Taiwan Strait.

The Patriot PAC-3 missiles can destroy missiles in mid-air, and could be used against those deployed along China’s coast facing Taiwan.

China split with Taiwan amid civil war in 1949 and continues to regard the self-governing democracy as part of its territory. Beijing has warned of a disruption in ties with Washington if the sale goes ahead, but has not said what specific actions it would take.

In Washington, the US Defence Department said it received no advance notice but that the United States did not consider the test related to US arms sales to Taiwan.

Major Maureen Schumann, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said: “We detected two geographically separated missile launch events with an exo-atmospheric collision also being observed by space-based sensors.” She added: “We are requesting information from China regarding the purpose for conducting this interception as well as China’s intentions and plans to pursue future types of intercepts.”

China gave no further details of the system tested, although the country is pursuing a number of programmes developed from anti-aircraft systems aimed at shooting down stealth aircraft and downing or disabling cruise missiles and precision-guided weapons.

Such developments are shrouded in secrecy. Military analysts say China appears to have augmented its air defences with homemade technologies adapted from Russian and other foreign weaponry.

China purchased a large number of Russian surface-to-air missiles during the 1990s and has since pressed ahead with its own HQ-9 interceptor, along with a more advanced missile system with an extended range.

The test comes as relations with the United States may be turning chilly amid strains over the arms sale as well as economic differences.

Beijing has issued several protests against last week’s decision in Washington to clear the arms sales to Taiwan and a stinging commentary was published on Monday by the official Xinhua news agency. It warned: “Each time the United States has sold weapons to Taiwan, there has been huge damage to China-US relations. This US arms sale to Taiwan will be no exception.”

The commentary accused the Obama administration of betraying a commitment to respect each country's just a month after the US President’s first visit to Beijing. It demanded: “Immediately halt weapons sales to Taiwan to avoid damaging cooperation between China and the United States in important areas.”

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China did not notify US before anti-missile test: Pentagon

(AFP) – 3 hours ago

WASHINGTON — China did not notify the United States in advance of a missile defence test and Washington has asked Beijing to clarify its intentions with the intercept weaponry, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.

"We did not receive prior notification of the launch," said Pentagon spokeswoman Major Maureen Schumann.

"We detected two geographically separated missile launch events with a exo-atmospheric collision also being observed by space-based sensors," she said after China announced a successful test of its missile intercept system.

"The US is requesting information from China regarding the purpose for conducting this interception as well as China's intentions and plans to pursue future types of intercepts," she said.

Analysts described the test as a show of China's advanced air defence capabilities amid tensions over US arms sales to Taiwan.

US officials have repeatedly urged China to be more open about its military spending and programs to avoid possible misunderstandings.

China raised international concerns in 2007 when it destroyed one of its own orbiting satellites with a missile.

This week's test came soon after a US official in Taipei said the Pentagon had approved the sale of Patriot missile equipment to Taiwan as part of a package passed by Congress more than a year ago.

Beijing -- which considers Taiwan part of its territory and has vowed to take the island back, by force if necessary -- has repeatedly voiced its opposition to the sales and urged Washington to cancel the deal.

China had warned at the weekend that it reserved the right to take unspecified action if Washington followed through with the sale, which it called a "severe obstacle" to China-US military ties.

Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved.

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Was wondering (hoping) when someone would get this put up.

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They seem less than thrilled with the deal...

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Pentagon Received No Warning of Chinese Missile Defense Test

Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2010

China's missile defense test yesterday caught the U.S. Defense Department by surprise, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Jan. 11).

"We did not receive prior notification of the launch," said Pentagon spokeswoman Maj. Maureen Schumann. "We detected two geographically separated missile launch events with an exoatmospheric collision also being observed by space-based sensors.

"We are requesting information from China regarding the purpose for conducting this interception as well as China's intentions and plans to pursue future types of intercepts," Schumann said.

The United States sees no link between its sales of weapons to Taiwan and the Chinese test, according to the Pentagon. While Taiwan has an autonomous government, Beijing claims the island-state as its territory and has threatened to use force should it pursue formal independence.

Beijing offered little detail on the interceptor it tested, but the Chinese government has adapted weapons acquired from Russia and elsewhere into its defensive arsenal. After making a massive procurement of Russian surface-to-air missiles in the 1990s, the nation has pursued domestic development of its longer-range HQ-9 interceptor.

In 2006, China was reported to have tried out an interceptor system comparable to U.S.-built Patriot missile defenses.

"There is an obvious concern in Beijing that they need an effective antiballistic missile defense in some form," said Hans Kristensen, an expert with the Federation of American Scientists.

Yesterday's test, reported to be successful, "shows that their technology is maturing," he said.

China is believed to have deployed eight Russian-built SA-20 PMU-2 surface-to-air missile battalions near major cities and strategic assets and requested eight more of the systems, the Defense Department said last year. Although the units could counter incoming ballistic and cruise missiles from India or Russia, they would be less effective against U.S. weapons (Christopher Bodeen, Associated Press/Time, Jan. 11).

"The big news" about yesterday's missile defense exercise "is that they are actually reporting, however brief, on a missile test. This appears to be a new trend," Rick Fisher, an expert on China's military with the International Assessment and Strategy Center, told the Washington Times.

A high-level Chinese military official recently confirmed in a report that China's "air force will be developing a missile-defense mission," Fisher said.

Beijing is likely to finish fielding a robust countrywide missile defense network by around the mid-2020s, he added.

"This will constitute the ultimate irony and face slap given China's very loud and vocal opposition to U.S. missile defenses in late 1990s and early this decade," he said, adding that "there's likely a linkage between China's antisatellite and missile-defense interceptor programs" (Bill Gertz, Washington Times, Jan. 12).

Today, though, China's missile defenses are "far from forming an operational capability," defense analyst Yang Chengjun told China's Global Times newspaper, according to Reuters.

China's latest missile defense test came days after Washington finalized plans to deliver additional missile defense systems to Taiwan (see GSN, Jan. 7).

"China feels the United States on the one hand wants all kinds of cooperation, but on the other hand keeps selling weapons to Taiwan, and this discrepancy is expanding," Zhu Feng, a Peking University international relations professor, told Reuters.

"There won't be any substantive reversal in relations over this. But China's self-confidence is growing and it feels these weapons sales to Taiwan are humiliating," he said (Chirs Buckley, Reuters, Jan. 12).

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China Validates Missile Defense as a Policy and Technology

WASHINGTON, Jan. 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Riki Ellison, Chairman and Founder of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance (MDAA), www.missiledefenseadvocacy.org, has released his comments regarding the recent missile test conducted by the People's Republic of China and made the following conclusions. His comments are below:

"The Peoples Republic of China successfully deployed, launched and intercepted a missile with its debut of a self-developed missile defense system. China now becomes the 12th nation with a deployed active missile defense interceptor system protecting their homeland following South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kuwait, UAE, Israel, India, Russia and the United States. This increases existing momentum of an international movement towards missile defensive as the system is seen as an integral part of national security which increases deterrent against those nations that would threaten their homelands.

The Xinhua News Agency reported that ground-based midcourse missile interception technology was tested and that the test has achieved its expected objective. China as a premier world power substantially validates the necessity of missile defense as both a policy and a successful technology with their first missile intercept yesterday.

Growth in missile defense systems internationally is inherently apparent as it is equally apparent for our nation to lead and forge ahead in missile defense for the benefit of our nation and the world."

Riki Ellison is available for on-the-record interviews. Call Barbara Maxwell at 703-299-0060 to arrange.

SOURCE Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance
RELATED LINKS
http://www.missiledefenseadvocacy.org

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Obama Aims Too Low on Taiwan

JANUARY 12, 2010, 12:15 P.M. ET

Your January 11 editorial, "A Taiwan Lesson," leaves unclear one key fact about the recent U.S. sale of PAC-3 antimissile batteries to Taiwan:

This action is simply the finalization of a Bush-era contract. President Obama himself has made no notification to Congress on arms sales already agreed to by the U.S. and Taiwan, including more PAC-3s, Blackhawk helicopters and assistance with Taiwan's military communications network.

These and the decision to accept Taiwan's request for F-16C/Ds are the big decisions out there.

I'm afraid if we set the "the limit to how far the administration is willing to go to improve relations with China" at simply following through on Bush-era sales, we aim too low.

Frankly, I also fear it is a limit the Obama administration may readily accept.

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Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2010
China's Missile Test: A Symbolic Warning to U.S.

By Mark Thompson / Washington


Visitors view the Chinese primary-generation missile on display at a military museum in Beijing
Liu Jin / AFP / Getty

China invented fireworks some 1,000 years ago in hopes of scaring away evil spirits. On Monday, it successfully tested a missile-defense system aimed at scaring away the U.S. from defending the island nation of Taiwan. By shooting down one missile with another, China demonstrated its growing military prowess. But it also telegraphed its anger over last week's sale of U.S. Patriot interceptor missiles to Taiwan. Taipei would use the Patriots to blunt any attack by Beijing's 1,100 missiles poised just across the Taiwan Strait. China has threatened to use force should Taiwan, which has had its own political system for the past six decades, opt for independence.

There's no chance China's gambit will deter the U.S. from backing Taiwan's ability to defend itself. But the test does signal a ratcheting up of tensions between Beijing and Washington, and highlights the continuing paradox of a strategic rivalry between two of the globe's biggest trading partners. The U.S. imports about $1 billion a day in Chinese goods to fill the shelves of Walmarts from coast to coast, making it the second-largest U.S. trading partner after Canada. That's a far different relationship than the U.S. had with the Soviet Union, its last strategic challenger. China's test also highlights what some in the military call a "self-licking ice cream cone" — the perpetual pursuit of primacy that keeps missile plants around the world churning out antimissile interceptors and interceptor-evading missiles. (See pictures of the making of modern China.)

While Xinhua, China's official news agency, stressed in a terse, three-sentence announcement of the test that the new system "is not targeted at any country," it plainly was a shot across the U.S. bow for its continuing weapons sales to Taiwan. Communist-run China split with nationalist-run Taiwan following the civil war in 1949, and it continues to regard the island as a renegade province. While the U.S. recognizes Taiwan and the mainland as part of one China, it continues to arm Taiwan against any threat of reunification by force — a policy regarded by Beijing as provocative interference in an internal Chinese dispute.

Beijing has declared it will take the island back by force should its leaders seek formal independence, and the U.S. has long hinted it would come to Taiwan's defense if war broke out. The sale of defensive weapons by the U.S. to Taiwan is required under the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act passed by Congress.

Chinese media in recent days have been slamming the $1 billion sale of more than 200 Patriots and warning that it would chill relations with Washington. Tempers are likely to flare even more in coming weeks as President Obama meets with Beijing's Tibetan nemesis, the Dalai Lama, and as Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou visits the U.S.

While the Pentagon said it had received no prior notice of China's missile test, it added that U.S. space-based sensors "detected two geographically separated missile-launch events" leading to an "exo-atmospheric collision." The event marked the latest outer-space tit for tat between the two nations: in 2007, China blasted one of its own weather satellites to smithereens, generating concern it was perfecting a satellite-killing weapon similar to the one last tested by the U.S. in 1985. In 2008, the U.S. destroyed a disabled spy satellite with a missile fired from a Navy ship, ostensibly to ensure that the satellite's 1,000-lb.

(454 kg) tank of toxic hydrazine fuel didn't harm anyone on the ground.

The Pentagon spends nearly 10 times as much as China's official annual defense budget of $71 billion, although military experts believe Beijing's true military spending is substantially higher. But any commotion generated by the Chinese test is somewhat passé. Ballistic missiles follow a predictable arc through the skies that makes them relatively easy to target. But both China and the U.S. have developed low-flying cruise missiles designed to fly underneath such antimissile shields.

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China to Target Taiwan With More Missiles, Study Finds

Monday, July 19, 2010

A Taiwanese report projects that China will target hundreds of additional missiles on the island before the end of 2010, Reuters reported today (see GSN, May 19).

Deployment of the new armaments would raise the number of Chinese missiles aimed at Taiwan to 2,000, up from between 1,000 and 1,400 weapons today, according to the study.

Fielding 2,000 short- and medium-range missiles along the Taiwan Strait would fall in line with Beijing's broader plans for revamping its armed forces, Taiwanese Deputy Defense Minister Andrew Yang said.

"In the process of improving air missile capabilities, that could be the number by the end of the year," Yang said. "We always show our concern, because we see China still has this intention. They are not reducing missiles."

China is gaining a military edge against Taiwan and could be capable of devastating 90 percent of the island's key assets, says the report published in the Taiwanese Defense Ministry's naval studies journal.

While Taiwan has an autonomous government, Beijing claims the island state as its territory and has threatened to use force should it pursue formal independence.

The sides recently agreed to permit direct passenger flights, and they inked a trade deal last month aimed at strengthening their economic ties.

"Even though we've signed the trade deal, there won't be any progress on military issues," said Hsu Yung-ming, a political science professor with Soochow University (Ralph Jennings, Reuters, July 19).

China was believed earlier this year to have conducted its first antisatellite test since 2007 in response to a planned sale of U.S. Patriot missile defenses to Taiwan, China Daily reported (China Daily, July 19; see GSN, June 16). Foreign Policy initially reported the launch in March (Tom Mahnken, Foreign Policy, March 22).