I can't believe no one has posted this yet. Anyways a few weeks back, China carried out an exo-atmospheric missile interception. The timing of the test was interesting to say the least since the White House had announced they were willing to sell new arms to Taiwan just a few days prior. U.S had also confirmed the authenticity of the test, stating they had tracked a collision event.
It seemed to be a kinetic kill interception from the information I've read so far. While I know China obtained some degree of terminal stage anti-ballistic missile capability through the purchase of S-300V and development of HQ-9, I was not aware they had an exo-atmospheric intercepter in the same class as THAAD.
It seemed to be a kinetic kill interception from the information I've read so far. While I know China obtained some degree of terminal stage anti-ballistic missile capability through the purchase of S-300V and development of HQ-9, I was not aware they had an exo-atmospheric intercepter in the same class as THAAD.
Asia Times Online :: China News, China Business News, Taiwan and Hong Kong News and Business.
China vents anger with missile test
By Peter J Brown
China has conducted a successful "defensive" anti-missile test with the intent of sending the United States a stern message of disapproval over Washington's latest arms sales to Taiwan.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu described the January 11 event as a test of "ground-based midcourse missile interception technology" conducted "within its territory". It was defensive in nature and targeted at no country, she said.
The test "is just a game about the US sales of weapons to Taiwan; about the non-proliferation of missiles; and about the prevention of an arms race in outer space between the US and China." according to Li Shouping, professor in international law at the School of Law of Beijing Institute of Technology and director of the Institute of Space Law.
The test was a direct response to the US Department of Defense decision on January 6 to sell weapons, including the Patriot III anti-missile system, to Taiwan, Li said in a commentary at the Res Communis web site [1]. Since the sale would integrate Taiwan into the Theater Missile Defense System (TMD) of the US, the Chinese government thought it harmed the sovereignty of China and violated the principle in international law, he wrote. Li declined to respond to questions from Asia Times Online.