-Caveat Lector-
Next they'll complain our missile technology is deficent from the
standpoint we know how it works!
>From Int'l Herald Tribune
Paris, Friday, February 12, 1999
Missile Defense Criticism Is Broadened
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Reuters
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BEIJING - China broadened its campaign on Thursday against U.S. plans to
develop missile defense systems, saying that their deployment could turn
space into a ''new battlefield.''
A Foreign Ministry spokesman in Beijing said the missile defense system
proposed by Washington threatened Asian stability and risked damaging
China-U.S. ties. And in Geneva, Li Changhe, China's delegate to the United
Nations Conference on Disarmament, said that Washington's plans to amend
the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty to pursue the defense ''umbrella'' would
upset the global strategic balance.
But military analysts in Beijing generally played down reports that, in
response to the U.S. plans, Beijing had fielded large numbers of ballistic
missile batteries aimed at Taiwan, saying that there was no immediate
threat to the island.
''This has been in the works for a while,'' a Western diplomat said. ''It
was not unexpected.''
The Foreign ministry spokesman, Zhang Qiyue, said that the high-technology
theater missile defense system struck at U.S. ties with China as enshrined
in three joint communiqués, under which Washington agreed to sell only
defensive weapons to Taipei.
''Including Taiwan in any form in the TMD system would constitute violation
of international law, the three joint communiqués and would lay obstacles
to the development and improvement of bilateral relations,'' Miss Zhang
said. ''It would also be counterproductive to peace and stability in Taiwan
and the Asia-Pacific region.''
Taiwan's Defense Ministry said Wednesday that China threatened the island
with more than 100 M-class ballistic missiles.
U.S. military analysts, citing a Pentagon report, said Beijing had deployed
from 150 to 200 of the solid-fuel missiles, up from 30 to 50 three years
ago.
''The momentum of development has increased, but the missiles are just a
deterrent,'' said a military analyst in China. ''The Chinese do not have
the capability to mount a successful invasion, so this is China putting
more emphasis on the stick approach rather than the carrot.'' Beijing
angrily rejects the missile defense as part of an aggressive tool of
containment designed to thwart its designs to reunify Taiwan with the
mainland.
So far, Washington has discussed the plan with Japan and South Korea and
has made no decision on including Taiwan.
''The TMD is a political issue not a military one,'' said the China-based
military analyst, dismissing suggestions that China had stepped up missile
production to counter the system.
''It's still a very long way before it is effective operationally,'' he
said of the system, which is many years away from deployment - if it ever
gets off the drawing boards.
Defense Secretary William Cohen said last month that the United States
faced a growing threat of missile attacks, a reference generally understood
to mean North Korea. Washington plans to spend $6.6 billion on countering
the threat, in addition to $3.9 billion already budgeted over the next five
years, but no decision to deploy will be made before 2000.
Diplomats in Geneva said that the Chinese delegate's speech, coupled with
the Foreign Ministry's warning, showed that China was turning up the heat
on America over the issue.
Mr. Li urged the 61-member forum in Geneva to launch global negotiations to
halt an arms race in space.
''As the single multilateral disarmament negotiating forum, the CD should
live up to its obligations and responsibilities to address this important
issue before it is too late,'' he said.
''The ultimate consequence will be turning outer space into a new
battlefield and a base for weapon systems,'' Mr. Li said. The U.S.
delegation did not respond to China's criticism.
For its part, Taipei called the deployment a psychological threat. Taiwan's
Defense Ministry has said that the Chinese missiles, which are capable of
carrying either conventional or nuclear warheads, highlight the need for a
U.S.-designed anti-missile defense.
Analysts in Taiwan said Thursday the island was vulnerable to any missile
buildup by China. Taiwan's air defense currently is based on the U.S.-made
Patriot surface-to-air missile system and home-grown Sky Bow missiles.
''Taiwan's missile defense is still very fragile at the moment,'' said a
military analyst in Taipei, Andrew Yang.
China frightened Taiwanese citizens by test-firing missiles near the coast
in 1995 and 1996.
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is to go to China this month to
discuss a range of bilateral issues as well as Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji's
expected U.S. visit in April.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
A<>E<>R
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