----- Original Message ----- From: Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <mailto:Undisclosed-Recipient:;@mindspring.com> Sent: Tuesday, January 02, 2001 4:06 PM Subject: CHINESE REACTIONS TO STAR WARS Bush 'Star Wars' Plan Will Put US-China On A Collision Course Tuesday, January 2, 2001 Toronto Globe & Mail Bush Risks Renewed Arms Race by Miro Cernetig BEIJING -- It seems a fine idea from Washington: Build an antimissile system to blow a distant enemy's nuclear and chemical weapons out of the sky, perhaps making the world's richest country impervious to a sneak missile attack. But on the other side of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, where no country can yet match the development budget of the Pentagon's $65-billion (U.S.) defence scheme, President-elect George W. Bush's hope of building such a missile shield is guaranteed to shake the so-called nuclear balance that has held between nuclear powers since the Cold War. "There's no doubt that if Bush pushes ahead on this, Washington and Beijing will be on a collision course," said a Western diplomat in Beijing. China's Communist regime, which analysts believe now controls about a dozen missiles capable of hitting North America on a good day, has already signalled that it will be forced to scale up its nuclear arsenal if Mr. Bush goes ahead with the missile-defence shield. Beijing has never attempted to compete with the United States or Russia in numbers of nuclear missiles, but an economically buoyant and increasingly nationalistic China has already said it would have no choice but to start. To show they mean business, China's generals have been announcing tests of a longer-range missile system with more reliable workings that will improve the weapons' chances of hitting North American targets. Meanwhile, Russia and China are also warning Mr. Bush that if his administration moves ahead with the antimissile system, it will be a violation of the Antiballistic Missile Treaty, a cornerstone of the world's nuclear balance since the 1970s. Over the weekend, Russia's Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov showed his country's concern by saying that Moscow will be seeking "serious dialogue" with Mr. Bush's administration to try to retain the ABM treaty. That would likely involve a stipulation from Moscow that Washington back off on its continental missile-defence shield. But those high-level warnings seem to be going unheeded by Mr. Bush. President Bill Clinton has retreated from a decision to expand funding for the so-called Star Wars system, named after the dream first backed by former Republican president Ronald Reagan during the 1980s, but Mr. Bush, who takes over on Jan. 21, seems to be pushing it to the top of his military agenda. He has appointed a security team that is bullish on the shield, even though it is still unclear whether the system can ever work outside laboratory conditions. In a surprise move that shows his determination, Mr. Bush nominated Donald Rumsfeld as his secretary of defence. Mr. Rumsfeld is a seasoned Cold War warrior who has been a staunch advocate of a missile-defence shield. Mr. Rumsfeld's hawkish views are backed by Colin Powell, the retired general who is Mr. Bush's choice for secretary of state. Mr. Powell has called a missile shield "an essential part" of the new administration's defence strategy. China's leaders have been largely silent on these developments. Beijing had success with a propaganda campaign aimed at persuading Mr. Clinton to take a slower approach on the idea, and expected more of the same if Vice-President Al Gore was elected. But Mr. Bush's agenda is clearly more hawkish, and is expected to get a negative reaction from China after his inauguration. "The Chinese will hate this. They will attack the Bush administration over missile defence in the days and in the years to come, and the hawks in the Chinese military will be using Mr. Bush's plan for antimissile defence to try and garner bigger budgets to build more missiles," said another Western diplomat in Beijing. "This will be one of the major issues affecting Sino-U.S. relations in the next four years." Particularly worrying to the Chinese is that the Pentagon is hoping to use the antimissile umbrella to build regional antimissile systems, known as theatre missile defence. The Pentagon sees those systems as a way of defending its allies and U.S. troops outside North America from rogue states such as North Korea, but there are complications. Taiwan, the breakaway island democracy that China considers a wayward province and hopes to reabsorb, wants to be covered by the U.S. system to help defend against Chinese attacks. But Beijing angrily opposes the idea, having built up its coastal missile arsenal to ensure that it could successfully invade Taiwan if the island ever declares independence from China. China believes that a theatre missile-defence shield would shake the Asian military balance, giving the United States too much influence. Bruce K. Gagnon Coordinator Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space PO Box 90083 Gainesville, FL. 32607 (352) 337-9274 http://www.space4peace.org [EMAIL PROTECTED]
