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| China tests new weapon. Shoots down Satellite
Posted: 1/18/2007 2:53:33 PM | China just tested their new weapon system to take out satellites. They shot down one of their own old satellites. This is a very useful defense and offensive weapon. Within minutes China could take out all satellites owned or used by a potential enemy. This would cause significant problems for their enemy. Think of everything that is depoendant on satellites. Phones, both cell and land line, gps and navigation systems, weapon systems which use satellite navigation would be useless. China has placed itsself in a position of superior strength. There isnt a nation on earth that would be able to take them on in a fight. This system for taking out satellites is the perfect defense. They can no longer be targetted by guided missles which means their country will not be bombed. They have the worlds largest air force which would ensure no enemy aircraft would enter their airspace and can protect their coast. They also have a strong navy which means the water off their coast would be secure. They have agreements around the world to secure long term access to oil and other natural resources. China has a lot of ties to countries around the world but who do they see as a potential enemy? They have increased trade and eased tensions with all of their neighbors. Every year the Chinese economy grows and the quality of life increases. over 800,000 people a year are pulled up above the poverty line with that number increasing each year.
Now if China wants to push their claim on Taiwan who can stop them? The US has often let the chinese know that they support an independant Taiwan. The US military presence will no longer be a deterent. Not to mention that China owns much of the US debt and the US relies on China for much of its imports. The US could stop Chinese imports but then Walmart would collapse without its cheap products.
China has the upper hand but it wont take long for others to build the same technology. Last year Bush claimed that the US would ensure only friendly nations would have access to space. Now the Chinese are the ones holding the technology to decide who is or isnt in space.
If China is militarily and economically stronger than the US why does america believe they are the only superpower? Maybe because the Chinese like to do things quietly where the US behaves like a drunken frat boy at his first party.
This is such a simple weapon and its interesting that its taken so long for someone to come up with it. Reagan wanted to put missles in space to take out incoming missles and probably satellites too. Looks like China found a cheaper way to do it.
The White House issued a statement to the Chinese letting them know that the US isnt happy with this new developement but do the Chinese really care??
Just wondering what people think about Chinas growing stength both militarily and economically and where it might lead. | |
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late™
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Joined: 1/9/2005
Msg: 2 | |
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| China tests new weapon. Shoots down Satellite
Posted: 1/18/2007 3:10:59 PM | China was the stronger superpower even before this development.
The USA's military has been transformed into a 'shock and awe' offense where their strength is with technology and precision weapons rather than with raw man-power. The vast size of China's military would easily outlast any military damage the US could inflict with it's entire stash of weaponry. After every US missile and bullet was spent there would still be million's of Chinese soldiers left over, and any war that lasted beyond the first week would then turn into a battle of economic strength. All China would have to do is sell it's own share of the US debt back on the world market which would make the US economy collapse overnight, and there's nothing the US could do about it. Most of the US's energy and industry is currently imported from other countries and without any purchasing power the US wouldn't be able to reproduce the weaponry at the rate it would need to spend it in order to stay in the war. In other words their military strength would dry up overnight. The only thing they could rely on would be the international community for support, but after the Iraq campaign I'm not sure there is much left of that either. | |
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| China tests new weapon. Shoots down Satellite
Posted: 1/18/2007 3:23:08 PM | | To be honest, it was bound to happen. The US wanted to be the first at producing a weapon like this but I think China, by the results of their latest weapon, is stepping into the void that was left by the Soviet Union when they collapsed. And I'm sure most of the world welcomes China as a balance in the world to the US. When the Soviet Union collapsed, the US found, over time, it was the target of hatred by many countries because of the lack of a balancing power in the world. Our current foreign policy with a war mongering president has helped speed up this process. I think it will help our country in the long run because it may keep our government in check instead of chasing an agenda that's hellbent on regime change around the world. | |
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| China tests new weapon. Shoots down Satellite
Posted: 1/18/2007 3:25:12 PM | ^^^ Wow you underestimate the power of the U.S military and the U.S as a whole. China has a really strong military and some advanced weaponry but so does the U.S. I think if the U.S and China went into a full blown war each side would have some major damage to its military. The U.S is fully capable of doing more than just shock and awe. The reason we are doing so bad in Iraq is because we follow the rules of engagement where the enemy does not.
Just because China invented a system to shoot down satellites that does not mean it is perfected or even works well. The U.S has a missile defense system that has seemed to impress a lot of people but it only has something like a 50% chance of hitting the incoming missile. | |
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arri
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Joined: 10/5/2005
Msg: 6 | |
| China tests new weapon. Shoots down Satellite
Posted: 1/18/2007 3:37:55 PM | US has had anti satellite weapons since 1985. Obviously, the first step towards all out war is to take out your opponents electronic and optical intelligence gathering capability.
I guess, China wanted the even out the playing field. I am pretty sure Russians have a system too. Americans use the ASAT designation for airborne anti satellite missiles. Theirs I think is launched from an F15. | |
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| China tests new weapon. Shoots down Satellite
Posted: 1/18/2007 3:44:41 PM | War between China and the US isn't an option for anyone. China wouldn't have a chance at winning, though our victory would be phyrric. Because China is powerful (unlike Iraq or Vietnam), nukes would be on the table. The size of the Chinese military is irrelevant; the US has been planning for a nuclear Sino-US war for decades, ASSUMING the involvement of the Soviets on the other side, and still would come out on top.
Of course, the war might have a side effect of bringing the human species to its knees, starting a Long Night that ends the Renaissance and cripples our development, technologically and socially, for centuries, as well as causing permanent scars on the Earth's ecosystem. But hey, we'd win.
Okay, so that aside, the weapon doesn't surprise me nor intimidate me because, again, China is _too_ powerful.
Further, China does not want to screw the US over economically. Now, it might do that because it may eventually be run by insane people who order the same. But neither powerlust or raw greed would justify dumping US debt. China's infrastructure is still inferior to our own, and their economy is still smaller than ours. More people, less development, despite the last few decades. And they are as imbedded in the world economy as much as we are. What's my point? If it all comes down and the world economy collapses -- which it might, I'm sure we'd all agree, and most certainly will if the oil runs out before we (the US) gets powerful and honorable leadership (which probably won't happen -- but all this is a different thread, yes?), then China would be more screwed than the U.S. We have better administration, a better bureaucracy, than they do, based on what Chinese nationals have told me. We'd handle the catastrophe better. Both nations have abundant natural resources, but we have better infrastructure. China would be cutting off its nose to spite its face.
But, again, it is my understanding that there are (a few) people in office in China who would use nukes to conquer Taiwan if they had the support. We're assuming none of them achieve great power. | |
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| China tests new weapon. Shoots down Satellite
Posted: 1/18/2007 3:51:54 PM | The advantage of stealth and the fact that chias navy is almost nonexistant makes any numerical superiority they may have a short term issue at best. Without resorting to balistic weapons they have no way to reach our centers of production I don't think they even have ballistics that will do. And all we would have to do is maintain a naval blockade and their economy would collapse. No need to hit any ground trgets outside of air defence and surface to surface (sea) assets and they would be effectivy neutralized. They're region is short on strategic minerals excpecially petroleum. There only option would be to move on russia for the oil reservs there and in their current state the russians would probably nuke first and ask questions later.
I'd suggest Clancys Bear and the Dragon. | |
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| China tests new weapon. Shoots down Satellite
Posted: 1/18/2007 4:33:50 PM | OP " Now if China wants to push their claim on Taiwan who can stop them? "
The big stick you chaps in the U.S. have with China has nothing to do with your military.
Just threaten to withdraw China's "most favoured nation" trading status, that hits them where it hurts. | |
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*Illsa
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Joined: 10/10/2006
Msg: 11 | |
| China tests new weapon. Shoots down Satellite
Posted: 1/18/2007 4:54:43 PM | My father worked with NASA and the military/government in defense development. We have had the ability to *shoot down satellites* for years...and as with most all space research...we (USA) are ahead, it is just that this information is not always deseminated widely to the general public...oop's...
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| China tests new weapon. Shoots down Satellite
Posted: 1/18/2007 5:00:13 PM | *squint*
Hmmm. Could be useful when we need a group of country with the capability to take-out or 'bump' large space objects (asteroids, comets or meteors) of concern. | |
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arri
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Joined: 10/5/2005
Msg: 13 | |
| China tests new weapon. Shoots down Satellite
Posted: 1/18/2007 5:54:12 PM | ^^^ The problem has never been the ability to reach a spy satellite. Even a medium range ballistic missile can do that and many countries have those. The scary part is the accuracy.
Consider this .. the Chinese managed to fire a missile from the ground, flying at many times the speed of sound that intercepted an orbiting satellite travelling at over 30000 kph ... and managed to hit it dead on and shatter it. That's one hell of a bulls eye and the technological achievement. I am not even sure that the Americans have been able to do it, they have been developing cluster munition for that. | |
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| China tests new weapon. Shoots down Satellite
Posted: 1/18/2007 8:44:09 PM | Yup, thats what I was thinking, Arri. Some damn fine programming on the part of the Chinese.
When the time comes, you *want* to have a backup plan.
*nodding* They can use the MTV satellite for practice...as long as they miss the new weather data collection mission micro-satellites. | |
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| China tests new weapon. Shoots down Satellite
Posted: 1/18/2007 10:02:18 PM | Well, after launching their first astronaut into orbit, this one was predictable.
After the failure of the EASA bill (due to defense contractors), their economy being driven into overdrive by American manufacturers looking for cheap labour (Walmart, Apple, et al), and their expanding need for resources as their society begins to modernize - they are certainly (in my view) the greatest long term challenge to the USA's position as a "the world's only superpower".
Unlike the Soviet Union in the cold war, they are economic partners with the capitalists.It's a rather strange dance card, especially when you think of how Cuba is seen by the USA. Go to Cuba for a vacation, as an American, and you will face some serious problems. Smoke a Cuban cigar anywhere in the world (as an American) , and you are breaking the law.
Open a factory in China, and you'll get a pat on the back on Wall Street. 
When I read this story, the rather amusing part was that the USA was the diplomatic protest.
The United States logged a formal diplomatic protest.
"We are aware of it and we are concerned, and we made it known," said White House spokesman Tony Snow.
Several U.S. allies, including Canada and Australia, have also registered protests, and the Japanese government said it was worrisome.
"Naturally, we are concerned about it from the viewpoint of security as well as peaceful use of space," said Yashuhisa Shiozaki, chief cabinet secretary. He said Japan has asked the Chinese government for an explanation.
The United States has been able to bring down satellites with missiles since the mid-1980s, according to a history of ASAT programs posted on the Union of Concerned Scientists Web site. In its own test, the U.S. military knocked a satellite out of orbit in 1985.
Under a space policy authorized by President Bush in August, the United States asserts a right to "freedom of action in space" and says it will "deter others from either impeding those rights or developing capabilities intended to do so."
The policy includes the right to "deny, if necessary, adversaries the use of space capabilities hostile to U.S. national interests."
"The thing that is surprising and disturbing is that [the Chinese] have chosen this moment to demonstrate a military capability that can only be aimed at the United States," he said.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/space/01/18/china.missile/index.html
When Americans were working on the same type of project, and shooting down a satellite in 1985.....it was a good thing.
Now, suddenly, it's not.
This is a bit like David and Goliath, but this time David's growing an inch every year and he's patient. He also now has the ability to blind his target with that slingshot. There is nothing that the USA can do about it either.
The Chinese have a very different view of things. They aren't planning for tomorrow, they are planning for thirty years from tomorrow. After Tiananmen Square and Desert Storm ( the former showing the discontent of the people, the latter the technological superiority of American weapons against Soviet ones) , China woke up and started to move towards resolving both those problems - with America's help.
Only eighteen years after Tiananmen Square, and sixteen years after Desert Storm, they've made dramatic changes to answer both challenges. | |
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| China tests new weapon. Shoots down Satellite
Posted: 1/18/2007 10:31:08 PM | >truckman,
The reason we are doing so bad in Iraq is because we follow the rules of engagement where the enemy does not. If you think thats why Iraq went down the drain you are much mistaken. It was lost when Bush declared mission accomplished. The US military failed to guard the armouries they had captured. When the war was "over" the Iraqi army went underground and became insurgents or resistance fighters depending on your point of view. They knew where the ammo dumps were and the armouries and they looted/liberated all the weapon stores. Had america guarded those weapons the Insurgents would have been like the palestinians throwing rocks at Israeli tanks. Not much of a threat. The US lost Iraq due to arrogance and incompetence from the top down. Save the troops on the line that do their best to do the job despite the actions of those at the top. As for this system the Chinese have It WORKS perfectly. It has been tried and it has been tested and it works. It is incredibly accurate. More accurate and effective than systems that the US uses.
>Akhenaton, You are correct about china not wanting to lose the american debt. China and Japan pretty much already OWN the US. All China would need to do to bring the US to its knees is to call in the debt for payment. China wont attack the USA. Americans have been brainwashed for 60 years that other nations are out to get them. Remember that it was the US that started the cold war with the soviets. China will use this system to "blind" the US should america attempt military action against them or one of their friends.
How well do american guided missles work when there are NO satellites to guide them? The US can fire off every damn thing they have but without guidence there is no way for them to actually find their targets. So the nukes might be on the table but they wont be good for anything but paper weights.
applgeek,
all we would have to do is maintain a naval blockade and their economy would collapse. You seem to forget their airforce. You can send every single american fighter over on all the US aircraft carriers and it wouldnt be a drop in the bucket. Their airforce would sink any ship sent to blockade them. A naval blockade would have to run from Russia around asia to the persian gulf. It would never work. There would be no way to ensure that goods were not coming in thru any of their neighbors. It isnt like Cuba where its a small island and easy to encircle. Remember the difficulty of the Ho Chi Min trail? Thats in one small area of a small country and the US couldnt stop goods moving along that route (because its a million little trails all over lapping). China is huge and almost all trade routes are beyond americas reach.
They're region is short on strategic minerals excpecially petroleum. There only option would be to move on russia for the oil reservs there and in their current state the russians would probably nuke first and ask questions later. China already has a deal with Iran to get oil from there. They have reopened passes to india to expand trade and resources. You might also wonder HOW the american navy would even reach the Chinese coast when they have NO navigation systems. ...oh and dont bother hitting the "onstar" button...they wont be answering either.
>doninvictoria, The US cant revoke Chinas trading status. As I said before the US is in debt to China. If the US pulled the favored status then China could call in the US debt and even seize US assets. Not only that but the US economy would take an incredible hit. With no goods coming in from China chains like walmart would be forced to close and lay off thousands. Electronics stores would also be hit hard. Ports would have to lay off workers, truckers would be hit, the entire transportation system for goods would be forced to cut back on workers. Its amazing just how much impact it would have across the board.
>luci4,
and as with most all space research...we (USA) are ahead I think you have listened to far too much american propaganda! Other than building the space shuttle the USA hasnt ever been ahead in space research. Despite the americans use or Nazi scientists (remember that Van Braun was a Nazi that used slaves to build his rockets...but lets forget that because he put a man on the moon) that built the space program the US has always been playing catch up. The Soviets were the first to space, first to get a satellite and first to the moon (unmanned). First with a space station and even the first to get rich tourists into space. America has a lot of help in its space program, they just never give them recognition. Thats why the Canadarm is referred to as the shuttles "robot" arm. It was designed and made by Canadians. It is what the shuttle uses to deploy or capture satellites. It is also what they now use for inspecting the shuttle for any damage that may have occurred during lift off. A lot of nations help the US with their space program. They just dont publically acknowledge it.
>Montreal, You are so right. China always takes the long view. Planning for the next generation not like the wests instant gratification.
Its funny that americans tend to see china as the threat. China has no interest in attacking the USA. It has a lot of interest in protecting countries they NEED for their growth from american agression. | |
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| China tests new weapon. Shoots down Satellite
Posted: 1/19/2007 12:22:02 AM | The size of the Chinese economy is likely to climb, in world rankings, from its current position as the sixth largest to the second largest by 2030, said economists with global investment bank Lehman Brothers.
With its gross domestic product (GDP) growing at an annual rate of 6 per cent, China will come in after the United States to secure the second place spot, the economists said.
http://www.china-window.com/china_economy/
I think the Chinese realized after Desert Storm, and the fall of the Soviet Union, that the new "war" was an economic one. They went from a Soviet mentality, to a hybrid capitalist/communist/socialist one very quickly afterwards.
Black cat or white cat: If it can catch mice, it's a good cat
-Deng Xiaoping
Here Kitty, Kitty.......
That change, with the mutually beneficial arrangement between their economy and US corporations, meant they've essentially created a brilliant solution to the problems they were facing. Although a Republican member of the House can get up and proclaim that the Democrat's oil bill "was written in Communist Red", when American corporations do business in China the only colour that's seen is.....green.
“If GE's strategy of investment in China is wrong, it represents a loss of a billion dollars, perhaps a couple of billion dollars. If it is right, it is the future of this company for the next century.”
- Jack Welch
Kermit, as lovable as he was, was wrong. It's EASY being green....
What the Chinese are doing is creating a model that will be contrasted with the current American capitalist system. The distribution of wealth is spread much more across a wider part of the population. Their basic needs are addressed, while so are those of their aristocracy.
"A man who has committed a mistake and doesn't correct it, is committing another mistake."
- Confucius
Since 1978 the People's Republic of China (PRC) government has been reforming its economy from a Soviet-style centrally planned economy to a more market-oriented economy but still within the political framework, provided by the Communist Party of China. This system has been called "Socialism with Chinese characteristics" and is one type of mixed economy. These reforms started since 1978 has helped lift millions of people out of poverty, bringing the poverty rate down from 53% of population in 1981 to 8% by 2001
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_the_People's_Republic_of_China
That's what I call a Cultural Revolution.
It's ( I believe) based on a very oriental view of how to achieve one's goals. Like martial arts, this philosophy uses their opponents greatest strength (capitalism) against itself. At the same time, it uses the money involved to better the population, and to increase and protect it's critical needs.
Compared to the current American version of capitalism, and America's current economic state, it's a far more attractive model to emerging Third World nations. Because of the "superheating" of the Chinese economy, and it's state control, they are now working with an ever expanding amount of money.
China plans to invest US$193 billion to make its buildings more energy efficient and prevent the burning of hundreds of millions of tons of polluting coal. Vice Minister of Construction Qiu Baoxing said half the new buildings in the world between now and 2020 will go up in China, the Wall Street Journal reported, and this massive growth has led to a huge surge in the use of coal and oil. China's cities are among the most polluted in the world with the construction industry accounting for 27% of China's energy use. Qiu said new buildings would have to cut their energy use in half while buildings still in the planning stages in the four main municipalities would have to be 65% more efficient. A recent survey of 600 construction projects found 10% failed to meet energy-efficiency standards, Qiu said. Their licenses were revoked.
http://www.chinaeconomicreview.com/subscriber/newsdetail/8452.html
and...
One of the leading Chinese power transmission companies, State Grid, plans to build a series of 2,000-kilometer "ultra high voltage" lines to carry electricity across the country, the Financial Times reported. The lines would connect coal mining centers or hydro power stations in southwest China to coastal areas around Shanghai and Guangzhou. The company plans massive investments to upgrade the country's electrical infrastructure, with US$26 billion to be spent this year alone. China is well poised to become the top market in the world for energy transmission technology, given the growing demand for power and long distances between production and consumption center. The country is adding 80 gigawatts of power every year, the newspaper reported, equivalent to the entire capacity of the UK.
http://www.chinaeconomicreview.com/subscriber/newsdetail/8450.html
Although they do not have what we would call a "free market", they are taking steps like looking forward to energy conservation and pollution. Short term, they have to make due with what they have, but the long term view is one that realizes that they too must be efficient in their energy use.
This very public test, at this time, is directed mainly to serve one purpose. It's a PR opportunity, and it serves to strengthen the view that China is a emerging superpower with quite impressive technological abilities. | |
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| China tests new weapon. Shoots down Satellite
Posted: 1/19/2007 12:50:21 AM | You missed the point.
This war is an economic one, not a military one.
If one country is mired in deep debt, and the other up to their necks in a cash surplus, guess who has more room to move ? Any miltary war between superpowers means no one wins on either side. Neither China nor the USA will win such a war. Neither can invade and control the others territory.
The game's changed. It's not "Risk" anymore, it's ...."Monopoly".
Dollars/Yuan are the new bullets and bombs.
To paraphrase Mao , " Political power grows out of the.....cash register. "
They may be in 1985 now, but their speed in that oriental Delorean they are driving is a lot faster than anything seen in the West. In 1985, they were in .....1900.
Why do you think the Chinese went after the Olympic Games ? It will be a chance to showcase their nation to the world, and to perhaps make more money with international trade as a result.
Pulling off the occasional PR stunt like a manned orbital mission, or shooting down a satellite, just is done in the same spirit as the US did those very same things. | |
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| China tests new weapon. Shoots down Satellite
Posted: 1/19/2007 8:00:12 AM | | Geeeze even if there is not a problem lets create one I guess. There are some posters here that could make some good presidental candidates...... The last post I responded to was about the states attacking Iran....(a war theme today) China has the right to improve its technology the same as anyone else, its not something that is only privy to the US. China is the strongest country in the world from a military standpoint and an economic one too. They have superior manpower to anyone, but what the hell does that matter. They complete a test for a defensive weapon and everyone is up in arms. I guess we live in a world of double standards. | |
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| China tests new weapon. Shoots down Satellite
Posted: 1/19/2007 9:04:04 AM | Some people are little vacuous in their belief that China lags us technologically.
Anybody who reads basic and applied science reports (the professional journal publications), understands this point.
We are now benefiting from their advances in biotechnology. Many countries are jumping fast and hard to acquire technical partnerships with various Chinese research institutes.
Their culture not only tolerates, but encourages respect for learning and the practical use of knowledge. The Chinese people are adept at fast-paced technological adaptation in their lives.
Those of us who study molecular biology and especially neurochemistry - we see that many of their long-held spiritual and martial training practices - and their ethnobotany and natural pharmaceutical expertise - are quite advanced.
And they have been for more than thousand years. Its just taken the West that long to understand *why* these practices work so well. | |
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| China tests new weapon. Shoots down Satellite
Posted: 1/19/2007 2:37:13 PM | May I quote from the great Chinese philosopher of war, Sun Tzu.
From the " Art of War ".
" Every battle is won or lost before the first shot is fired ".
" Hence a wise general makes a point of foraging
on the enemy. One cartload of the enemy's provisions
is equivalent to twenty of one's own, and likewise
a single picul of his provender is equivalent to twenty
from one's own store ".
The emmergence of China and India as economic powers will have as great an effect on the 21st. century as WWII had on the 20th.
There's no need to fear any warfare between us and the Chinese. They will win without having to fire a shot. | |
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| China tests new weapon. Shoots down Satellite
Posted: 1/19/2007 2:48:47 PM | Ahhhh another glorious day in the People's Republic of China. Chairman Mao (may God rest his bones) must be elated right now wherever he is...
Time to prepare the new ground for our new overlords and buy the Rosetta Language Package for express Mandarin Chinese learning. Good thing terminology is international in my trade...
I wonder how the world will look 20 years from now...hmmmm.... | |
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| China tests new weapon. Shoots down Satellite
Posted: 1/19/2007 3:18:50 PM | A rather intersting look at how time changes people's views....
Bush’s nominee to head Joint Chiefs promotes militarization of space
By Joseph Kay
30 August 2001
President George W. Bush announced August 24 that he was nominating Air Force General Richard B. Myers to be the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the top military position in the United States. The administration’s selection of the former head of the US Space Command underscored its determination to build a national missile defense system and extend American military capabilities into space.
The US government sees control of space as an increasingly critical aspect of military dominance in general, known within military and strategic circles as “total spectrum dominance.”
The US Space Command during Myers’ tenure became the most consistent advocate of the militarization of space. In a speech to the United States Space Foundation in April 1999, Myers said, “Space ... is increasingly the center of our national and economic security.”
He further argued that it was necessary to develop both offensive and defensive space capacities. The US would seek in the coming period to “ensure use of space on our terms,” Myers declared.
More recently, in a speech in February of this year, Myers asserted that “many of those capabilities critical to ensuring our security in tomorrow’s environment will come through our use of space-based capabilities.” He continued: “That’s why we’re working to fully integrate space capabilities into the weapons systems, processes and doctrine of all the Services.”
Michael O’Hanlon, a military affairs expert at the Brookings Institute in Washington, noted: “For an administration thinking about military uses of space and missile defense on the one hand, China on the other, and then dealing in the Washington political and budgetary context,” the experience of Myers is optimal.
The selection of Myers is a further indication that Bush is determined to carry out his military and foreign policy plans despite widespread opposition—from China, Russia and Europe, as well as from sections of the political establishment within the United States.
The nomination comes in the wake of comments by Bush that are the most clear indication yet that the US has decided to withdraw from the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty, in order to begin the construction of NMD. On August 23 Bush stated that the US would withdraw from the treaty “at a time convenient to America.”
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2001/aug2001/myer-a30.shtml
Now the Chinese, who opposed this idea, suddenly see that the USA is "going for the high ground". To not respond, is to leave their country wide open to the effects of such a program.
They turn around, and decide to "get with the program", because they in fact have no other tactical choice. They do the work, and six years later, fire off ONE missile.
The result ?
US state department spokesman Tom Casey said the Bush administration had made clear to China its opposition to such tests.
In space programmes, he said "small things can cause very big problems".
Mr Casey said the tests could "produce extensive amounts of space debris [that] have the potential for disturbing or accidentally disrupting communications satellites".
White House deputy press secretary Dana Perino said the Chinese had not yet responded.
"We do want co-operation on a civil space strategy, so until we hear back from them, I don't have any more to add," she said.
Mr Casey said the US had "no plans or intentions" to engage in space arms tests.
However, Washington has recently opposed international calls to end such tests - and the US is known to be researching such "satellite-killing" weapons.
The BBC's Jonathan Beale, in Washington, says the US has been cautious in its criticism, not least because it wants good relations with China, and has played down talk of an arms race.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6281247.stm
A White House spokesman said the "development and testing of such weapons is inconsistent with the spirit of co-operation that both countries aspire to in the civil space area".
But on the issue of space weapons, the US certainly risks the charge of hypocrisy.
The US has also been carrying out research on lasers that could knock out enemy satellites and the Bush administration has repeatedly ruled out the idea of a global treaty banning putting weapons in space.
Only last August, President Bush laid out a new US national space policy which said Washington would "preserve its rights, capabilities and freedom of action in space" and "dissuade or deter others from either impeding those rights or developing capabilities intended to do so".
It also threatened to "deny, if necessary, adversaries the use of space capabilities hostile to US national interests".
To some extent the announcement of that policy was clearly a response to a perceived threat from China as well as an attempt to preserve the current US advantage in space.
It may be that last week's test is an attempt by China to push back at the US and put pressure on Washington to consider negotiating a treaty to ban weapons in space.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6278867.stm
In terms this President can certainly understand, "You reap what you sow." | |
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