China keeps mum despite furore over missile test

Straits Times BEIJING - CHINA yesterday maintained silence on its anti-satellite missile test despite coming under growing international pressure to confirm it, while Chinese a

24 January 2007


Straits Times


BEIJING - CHINA yesterday maintained silence on its anti-satellite missile test despite coming under growing international pressure to confirm it, while Chinese analysts and state media called the diplomatic outcry an overreaction.

The absence of official publicity prior to the test implies that it was likely an 'internal Chinese military affair' not meant to be taken as a provocative military action, said security analyst Wang Xiangsui.

'The US response is excessive, it has turned this into a hot media issue,' he told The Straits Times. 'China probably did not intend for or expect such a strong reaction.'

He said it was impossible to say whether the test, which was tracked by US intelligence, had indeed been conducted, given that Beijing shrouds all military activities in secrecy.

The Global Times, a newspaper affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party's official mouthpiece People's Daily, questioned the reliability of US information on the test.

US spy agencies claimed China destroyed one of its own ageing weather satellites on Jan 11 with a missile fired from the ground.

In a front-page article published on Friday, the newspaper called criticism of the test the 'latest strong effort by US and Western media to exaggerate China's weaponry and military technology'.

The information put out by the United States on the test 'should be viewed with suspicion', it said.

'Everyone knows that US space technology is the most superior in the world. But the way the US has presented the news gives the impression that the superiority of its military space programme is in imminent danger,' it said.

Beijing-based analysts said present Chinese military capabilities are nowhere near the level of sophistication described by hawks in Washington, who see the test as part of an effort by China to develop anti-satellite capability that could threaten its extensive space assets.

'The kind of weaponry and military technology that China possesses at this stage is very basic, mostly supplementary in nature. It lags far behind America's capabilities,' said Professor Wang.

However, US concern over the test is understandable, said international relations expert Shi Yinhong.

'When it comes to military affairs, reactions are always excessive. It is true that China has quickened its pace of military progress in recent years. It could be the pace of progress that is shocking others,' he said.

He predicted that the incident will 'make a small dent in China-US ties' but said the impact will be limited given that politically, 'the two countries are doing well'.

Although China has long stressed its 'peaceful rise', the recent release of its defence white paper spells out an intention to upgrade its air force, navy and strategic nuclear forces, as well as to achieve 'breakthroughs in key technologies'.

Beijing's military ambitions do not contradict the image of a peacefully rising China, argued Chinese experts.

Prof Wang said: 'Peaceful development is China's goal but it cannot guarantee that in the course of its rise, it does not face the threat of war. As a big country, China should take steps to defend itself.'

However, views from overseas China experts differ.

Professor Jiang Wenran, an expert with the University of Alberta in Canada, said the test was a 'calculated, strategic decision'.

'It sends an unmistakable message that China has precision technology and in the event of a military confrontation, has the capability to strike at the heart of the US military intelligence,' he said.

The biggest motivation for China to send such a signal, he said, is the growing military alliance between the US and Japan - in particular, the countries' protective position on Taiwan.

Said Prof Jiang: 'We will see more of such tests and military moves from China, and this will become the norm.'