2000

~ 1999

Ballistic Missile Defense Organization

[ News ] [ Papers ]

China Blasts U.S. Missile Proposal
(AP, Sept. 14, 2000) China urged disarmament negotiators Thursday to consider the ``grave consequences'' of U.S. plans for a national missile defense system, dismissing President Clinton's deferral of a decision to deploy it. U.S. diplomats rejected the Chinese comments, suggesting that China and others are using objections to the NMD as a smoke screen to create ``utter paralysis'' blocking disarmament negotiations.

China Applauds Clinton NMD Decision As 'Rational'
(Reuters, Sep. 2, 2000) China applauded President Clinton Saturday as rational for leaving it to his successor to decide whether to deploy a national missile defense (NMD) system and made clear it hoped the plan would die. Beijing trenchantly opposes U.S. plans for an NMD and a related Theater Missile Defense (TMD) for Asia, saying it would spark a new arms race and upset the world strategic balance.

Li Peng Attacks Missile Shield Plan
(South China Morning Post, Aug. 31, 2000) After a lapse of eight years, National People's Congress Chairman Li Peng yesterday returned to the United Nations and hit out at a US plan to build a national missile defence shield, promoted China's sovereignty over Taiwan and defended Beijing's commitment to political reform.

China-Russia Pact Condemns U.S. Missile Shield Plan
(Reuters, July 18, 2000) Capping off a summit dominated by shared suspicions of U.S. motives and resentment of American global influence, Jiang and Putin put in writing their mutual antipathy to U.S. plans to build anti-missile defenses to protect North America and Asia. The document also slammed U.S. plans to build a TMD system in Asia, which China fears cover Taiwan. "The incorporation of Taiwan into any foreign missile defense system is unacceptable and will seriously undermine regional stability," it said.

Taiwan May Get Antimissile Technology
(Washington Post, July 9, 2000) A senior U.S. official delivered bad news to China today, saying Washington has not ruled out giving Taiwan advanced capabilities to defend itself from Chinese missile attacks. "We don't rule out the possibility that some time in the future Taiwan may have [theater missile defense] capabilities," senior U.S. arms control adviser John Holum told reporters, referring to the U.S.-proposed theater missile defense (TMD) scheme for Asia.

40 U.S. China Experts Urge Delay on Antimissile Plan
(New York Times, June 29, 2000) A group of more than 40 American scholars on China and former diplomats is urging President Clinton to delay a decision on whether to build a national missile defense, arguing that the proposed system may do more harm than good to American economic and military interests.

U.S. Soothes China Concerns Over Missile Defense Plans
(AFP, June 8, 2000) China should not be concerned over U.S. proposals for a missile defense system aimed at protecting North America from attacks by "rogue" states, a senior U.S. official said Wednesday. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Non-Proliferation Robert Einhorn also vehemently denied that the proposed National Missile Defense system would stimulate an arms race in the region, in particular with China.

US 'Expects Mainland Missile Test'
(South China Morning Post, June 8, 2000) The US forces, suspecting the mainland may soon test-fire a Dongfeng-31, have strengthened surveillance of the mainland's military moves, according to the report, which quoted sources at Japan's Defence Agency. The newspaper said the mainland was expected to test-fire the missile from a military base in Shanxi province to a desert area in Xinjiang, in the northwest.

Taiwan Gets OK To Test Missiles
(Associated Press, June 7, 2000) Taiwan has obtained permission from the United States to test the U.S.-built Patriot missiles in the island, the first time the missiles will be tested outside the United States, defense officials said today. The Patriots, designed to intercept incoming missiles, are an important part of Taiwan's defense against China's Dongfeng-31 – a nuclear-capable missile that can reach as far as the western United States.

China Says U.S. Missile Shield Could Force an Arms Buildup
(New York Times, May 11, 2000) China's chief arms negotiator said today that the American proposal to build an antimissile defensive shield posed an unacceptable threat to China's security and could force Beijing to significantly expand its own nuclear forces in response. The Chinese find it hard to believe American claims that the proposed "national missile defense" is intended only to counter threats from small "rogue" states like North Korea.

Beijing Blasts 'Star Wars' Missile Plans
(Reuters, Apr 25, 2000) China denounced the United States on Monday for seeking to develop an anti-missile defence system, calling this another form of nuclear armament. "Disarmament should be conducive to the enhancement of every country's general security instead of becoming the instrument and means for a few countries to strengthen their military superiority by weakening or restricting other countries," Sha Zukang said.

Taiwan Asks U.S. for Better Missile Defenses Against China
(New York Times, April 1, 2000) On a mountaintop south of Taipei, a cluster of American-made Patriot missile launchers, draped in camouflage netting, stands pointed toward the Chinese mainland 130 miles away. Now, faced with China's threats and its growing force of missiles pointed at the island, Taiwan's military is campaigning for a big improvement of its missile defenses. The island has put Washington in an uncomfortable position by asking to buy some of the best American weaponry, including a new version of the Patriot, and a decision is expected in the next few weeks.

US, Japan Vow to Continue Missile-Defence Study
(AFP, Feb. 16, 2000) The United States and Japan agreed Wednesday to continue research on a regional missile-defence system, despite some progress in missile talks with North Korea. The United States and Japan launched research last year on a "theater missile defence (TMD)" system to guard against medium-range missiles by detecting them with satellites and shooting them down with missiles.

China Lambastes US Anti-Missile Plan, Warns Against Arms to Taiwan
(AFP, Feb. 6, 2000) China's Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Guangya launched a verbal attack Sunday on the US government for its plans to develop a national system of anti-missile defence, saying this could provoke a new arms race. He also warned countries against selling arms to Taiwan. Wang was addressing a high-powered informal defence and security forum in Munich also attended by US Defense Secretary William Cohen.

The US National Missile Defense Program: Vital Shield or Modern-Day Maginot Line? By Gary Brown and Gary Klintworth
(Parliament Library of Australia, Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Group, Dec. 5, 2000) If the US goes ahead with NMD, Australia may find itself caught between, on the one hand, its commitment and obligations to the US as guarantor of Australia's security and Australia's strategic interests in the Asia-Pacific region, and indeed globally, and on the other hand, Australia's budding new friendship with China. The dilemma may prove to be illusory because, difficult as it might seem, the US may yet be able to persuade Russia and China to accept its NMD proposal. But if it cannot, Australia will face some difficult choices.

East Asia Needs Balance, and Balance Means Missile Defense By Robyn Lim
(International Herald Tribune, Dec. 21, 2000) China and the United States have a growing collision of strategic interest over Taiwan. China has strategic ambition, while Japan has strategic anxieties. East Asia's future will turn on whether Japan and China continue to believe that the United States will guarantee Japan's security. The Bush administration's priority should be to develop Theater Missile Defenses to protect Japan (and U.S. forces based there) from the growing threat of Chinese and North Korean missiles. At stake is nothing less than America's ability to remain an Asia-Pacific power.

Missile Defense High on Bush Agenda
(Associated Press, Dec. 16, 2000) The world according to George W. Bush during the campaign: a stronger U.S. military, a tougher line on Russia and China, a scaled-down peacekeeping role and a missile defense system to protect America, whether the rest of the globe likes it or not. Now, as the president-elect builds his Cabinet and team of advisers, allies and foes wait to see how much of the Bush vision will become reality.

China and Missile Defense By Ronald Montaperto and Michael O'Hanlon
(The Nixon Center, Oct. 19, 2000) Though China still lags far behind the United States in terms of strategic weaponry, the speakers, Dr. Ronald Montaperto of the National Defense University and Dr. Michael O’Hanlon of the Brookings Institution, argued that NMD and TMD could provoke a destabilizing arms race in East Asia. Dr. David M. Lampton, Director of Chinese Studies at The Nixon Center, moderated the discussion.

TMD and US-China-Japan Cooperation By Wang Qun
(Director of China's Department of Arms Control and Disarmament, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Missile Defense Initiative Special Report, Sept. 28, 2000) The excuse employed by the U.S. and Japan in pursuing their TMD joint development program is untenable. TMD is not a relevant answer to threats flowing from missile development and proliferation; on the contrary, it can only constrain the relations of major powers, increase their mistrust and thus impede their cooperation with profound and far-reaching negative impacts on regional peace, security and stability.

Missile Defense Deferral Makes Asia a Safer Place By Tom Plate
(LA Times, Sep. 6, 2000) Give the outgoing president a hand for a domestically risky and internationally astute decision to delay, at least for the rest of his term, a mammoth national missile defense system that neither the United States nor the world needs. In Asia, a sprawling, politically and ethnically diverse region, many will have good reason to assess this as one of Bill Clinton's finest moments as a world leader. Clinton did not bow to obvious election-year pressure to keep the Democratic defense posture tougher-than-nails with a costly new missile defense system, which would have more effectively shielded Al Gore from George W. Bush's political flak than Peoria from missiles.

Missile Defense Is Elevated as Campaign Issue By Charles Babington
(Washington Post, Sep. 1, 2000) The postponement of a deployment decision for a national missile defense system, announced today by President Clinton, elevates an emotional issue in the presidential campaign just as it enters its most important phase. The most likely beneficiary, for now at least, is Republican George W. Bush, who has criticized the administration's indecision on this subject. Gore, meanwhile, praised Clinton's announcement and said the nation should continue testing the feasibility of a missile defense system. Bush's proposal envisions a more elaborate and expensive missile defense system than Clinton and Gore have contemplated.

Theater Missile Defense: How Will It Recast Security and Diplomacy in East Asia? By Peter Brookes
(Heritage Foundation, Aug. 17, 2000) The great unexamined story today regarding ballistic missile defense (BMD) in Asia is the unspoken effect that actions by the People's Republic of China (PRC) are having on America's consideration of its own future missile defenses. The Clinton Administration decries missile programs in Iran, Iraq, and North Korea, but for some inexplicable reason it fears mentioning the "C" word: China. Changes in Chinese capability, doctrine, and proliferation practices require an appropriate response from the United States to deter and, if necessary, defend against it.

Taiwan Experts Want Bigger Anti-Missile Budget
(Reuters, Aug. 16, 2000) Taiwan needs a bigger defense budget to beef up its anti-missile defence to counter moves by rival China to upgrade its ballistic missile technology, some military experts said on Tuesday. "M-class missiles pose the greatest threat to Taiwan as they are the most cost-effective way of launching strikes against our major cities, military bases, infrastructure and airports."

A Call to Arms By Murray Hiebert and Susan V. Lawrence
(Far Eastern Economic Review, Aug. 3, 2000) The decision by the United States to deploy a missile defence system is all but made, leaving Americans to ponder life under a protective umbrella that could track and destroy incoming missiles. Despite the embarrassment of failed tests and public scrutiny, the only significant debate in Washington--where domestic politics rather than foreign policy is driving the process--is over the size of the system to deploy, and whether President Bill Clinton should initiate construction or pass deployment on to his successor.

Missile Defense Goes to Sea By Kim Holmes and Baker Spring
(Heritage Foundation, July 12, 2000) Critics of a U.S. national missile defense are trying to use the recent test failure as "proof" the technology is unworkable. They’re wrong, but the debate threatens to eclipse a more fundamental question: If the United States needs to protect itself from the growing arsenal of missiles around the world, what’s the best way to do it?

National Missile Defenses and Chinese Nuclear Modernization (PDF file) By Anthony H. Cordesman
(Center for Strategic and International Studies Background paper, July 2000) The net threat China poses to the American homeland probably will be larger if the US deploys an NMD system than if the US did not. At the same time, China seems likely to increase its ICBM, SLBM, and cruise missile threat against the US in any case. As is the case with Russia, it is possible that the US may be able to negotiate some kind of ceiling on Chinese strategic forces in response for clear limits to a US NMD system. Unlike Russia, however, China sees a serious prospect of military confrontation with the US over issues like the Taiwan Straits.

Beijing Is Setting the Stage for Trouble in the South China Sea By Mark J. Valencia
(International Herald Tribune, July 3, 2000) Missles launched from sea-based systems could avoid being misled by decoys by destroying an enemy missile in its boost phase, shortly after liftoff. But to do so the surface ships and submarines carrying the anti-ballistic missiles would have to be rather close to the launch site. This may help to explain the U.S. Navy's growing concern with freedom of navigation issues in the South China Sea. Washington's policy has evolved from active neutrality to active concern. Active involvement is likely to be the next step, resulting in a serious new source of tension with China.

Theater Missile Defenses in the Asia-Pacific Region
(A Henry L. Stimson Center Working Group Report, June 29, 2000 ) US policy choices toward TMD in the Asia-Pacific region must be acutely mindful of the pitfalls associated with missile defense deployments, but they must also be responsive to the growing ballistic missile threats in the region. A simplistic, "one-size-fits-all" policy for TMD would worsen regional security and harm US national security interests.

U.S. Eyes Starting Missile Defense: ABM Treaty Issue Left for Next Year By Thomas E. Ricks and Steven Mufson
(Washington Post, June 28, 2000) If a crucial flight test goes well next week, President Clinton is likely to give a "limited green light" for a national missile defense system, a middle course that the United States would argue does not violate the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and that would leave the toughest decisions to his successor, according to administration officials. The first phase of the proposed missile defense system would consist of 100 interceptor missiles based in Alaska and an advanced radar station on Shemya Island at the tip of the Aleutian chain, the westernmost fringe of the United States.

Beijing Must Factor Into Missile Defense Equation by Greg May
(The Nixon Center, June 12, 2000) As America plunges ahead with its plan to deploy a limited national missile defense (NMD) system, the U.S. is making a great effort to overcome Russian opposition. But it is actually the reaction of China, not Russia, that will be the decisive factor in whether a missile defense system will ultimately improve U.S. security or lead to a new arms race. Unfortunately, Washington is paying scant attention to the potential impact missile defense will have on America's strategic relations with the world's most populous nation.

China's Opposition to US Missile Defense Programs By Evan S. Medeiros and Kevin Pollpeter
(Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Monterey Institute of International Studies, June 2000) China has always opposed missile defenses, but its opposition has become more vocal in recent years as the United States has accelerated its national missile defense (NMD) program and sought to expand theater missile defense (TMD) cooperation with Japan and Taiwan. Chinese opposition to US missile defense programs is based on both historical and substantive concerns about the danger of nuclear blackmail, the United States' superpower status, US alliances, Japan's military potential and US military aid to Taiwan.

What About China? By Peter Scoblic
(New York Times, June 9, 2000) In its eagerness to persuade Russia to accept deployment of a U.S. missile defense, the Clinton administration has all but ignored China, a nuclear power in its own right and an opponent of these systems. China currently fields about 20 nuclear-armed missiles capable of striking the continental United States. For decades, it has relied on this small force not only to deter a nuclear attack, but also to guarantee it a place at the table with the other great powers and to offset their conventional weaponry.

Risk of Arms Race Seen in U.S. Design of Missile Defense By Michael R. Gordon and Steven Lee Myers
(New York Times, May 27, 2000) As President Clinton nears a decision on whether to build a limited national missile defense, American intelligence officials are warning that such a system could set off a cold-war-style arms race between China, India and Pakistan, administration officials say. While the American officials have repeatedly said an antimissile defense is not aimed at Beijing, even they acknowledge that the system being designed could significantly undercut or even neutralize China's small nuclear force.

Theater Missile Defense in Northeast Asia
(Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Monterey Institute of International Studies, April 26, 2000) This annotated chronology covers key events such as indigenous development, missile testing, and TMD-related transfers to the region, as well as major policy statements made by the governments involved. In addition, the chronology is prefaced by a brief updated summary of key actors' positions and policies on TMD issues in the region.

Indefensible Decisions By Zbigniew Brzezinski
(Washington Post, May 5, 2000) the Chinese quite naturally would view an American decision to deploy in the above-mentioned fashion as directed primarily against them. That would intensify American-Chinese tensions (a matter hardly of regret to Moscow) and precipitate Chinese efforts to upgrade their nuclear-armed ICBM capabilities, including the deployment of decoys to override the partial American missile defense. The American initiative and the Chinese reaction would probably cause anxiety in Japan and South Korea.

Budgetary and Technical Implications of the Administration's Plan for National Missile Defense
(Congressional Budget Office, April 25, 2000) This report estimates that the cost of the proposed national missile defense system may reach as much as $60 billion. The offspring of President Reagan's space-based "Star Wars" missile defense system, the proposed missile shield would be composed of ground-based missile interceptors guided by infrared satellites and radar. Vehemently opposed by the Russian Government and receiving only lukewarm support from significant sections of the military and Congress, the missile program's fate will be decided this summer, when President Clinton has said he will determine whether or not to proceed.

China's Opposition to TMD is More About Politics Than Missiles By Greg May
(Nixon Center, February 2000) One of the greatest irritants in the U.S.- Japan-China triangular relationship is something that does not even exist yet. Although it will not be operational until 2007 at the earliest, the proposed theater missile defense system currently under development by Washington and Tokyo has met with intense Chinese opposition. The pursuit of missile defense is a "a dangerous act," according to a January 1999 article in China’s Liberation Army Daily, that is motivated by America’s "pursuit of strategic superiority and hegemony."

Needlessly Antagonizing China By Leon V. Sigal
(Global Beat Syndicate, Feb. 23, 2000) A decision to deploy missile defense systems will do little to protect the United States against potential threats but it is sure to stir Chinese antagonism. And it could also alienate America's allies and destabilize relations in Northeast Asia. Ostensibly, the defense systems are intended to counter an emerging missile threat from North Korea. But Beijing believes Washington has exaggerated that threat while at the same time refusing to deal with Pyongyang.

Close Isn't Good Enough
(Editorial, LA Times, Jan. 20, 2000) The Pentagon blames a pair of malfunctioning sensors for Tuesday's failure of a $100-million test of a missile interceptor system that it hopes can defend the country against intercontinental attack from rogue states. China has far fewer ICBMs, but as one of its defense officials told Times correspondent Jim Mann this week, if the United States deployed a missile defense system, China could boost its missile production to offset that deterrent.

US Presidential Candidates Thoughts on Missiles
(Associated Press, Jan. 9, 2000) Does America need a national missile defense system to defend itself against nuclear attack? Al Gore: ``The decision to proceed toward deployment of a national missile defense system needs to be based on: 1. the level of our confidence in the technology; 2. its impact on our ability to protect arms control; 3. an assessment of the cost; and 4. an evaluation of the threat. As President, I would be willing to consider changes to the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty restricting missile deployment and even abandoning the treaty if the United States was seriously threatened by a missile attack from a 'rogue' nation.''