Missile defence test comes amid protests against Taiwan arms deal

09:35 GMT, January 12, 2010 defpro.com | Only a few days before the New Year, Ma Xiaotian, chairman of the China Institute for International Strategic Studies (CIISS) and deputy chief of general staff of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), outlined China’s policy of “…initiatively adapting to the international situation, which is in big alternation and adjustment.” Despite the slightly different intention of Xiaotian’s report, these words appear to be a suiting companion when looking at the latest defence-related developments in China.

Ever since its colonial past, and in particular with the issue of the Two Chinas, conflicts of or with its neighbours, as well as the continuous globalisation of the late 20th century, China has been increasingly forced to set aside its historically rather introverted policy and to become accustomed to a political world in constant motion. China’s official push towards greater stability in the region, in parallel with a desire for greater political, economic and military influence, regularly clashes with the regional interest of neighbours and, in particular, of the United States.

It is in this light that one should look at yesterday’s announcement of a reportedly successful test of ground-based, mid-course missile interception technology which comes amid current and repeated protests against the conclusion of an arms deal between the United States and Taiwan for advanced Patriot missile systems.

So far nothing could be learned about China’s new missile defence technology from the reports, exclusively published by the state-run Xinhua news agency. While quoting the Foreign Ministry’s emphasis that “the test is defensive in nature and is not targeted at any country," the report outlines that the test has achieved the expected objective, without describing that objective.

On 12 January 2010, Xinhua published photos of a missile launch, which appears to be a HQ-9 medium and long-range air-defense system. However, it can so far not be confirmed whether this system has been involved in the test.

US President Barack Obama’s visit to China in November 2009, as well as a meeting of Obama and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao during the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, has slightly improved the US-Chinese relationship. However, the latest events have once more put this complex relationship into a greater and more sober perspective. As soon as the news about the Pentagon’s approval for the sale of Patriot PAC-3 missiles to Taiwan was aired, China’s unavoidable reaction was to protest against the arms deal and to threaten military action against Taiwan, which China considers part of its territory and repeatedly vowed to take back by force, if necessary.

Although the Patriot deal was a step towards implementing the huge-scale arms sales package announced by the Bush administration in October 2008, this weekend China’s defence ministry warned that it reserved the right to take unspecified action if Washington followed through with the sale, which it called a “severe obstacle” to China-US military ties.

In a statement published by Xinhua (see http://www.defpro.com/news/details/12386/), the Chinese Defence Ministry emphasised that the China-US Joint Statement of 17 August 1982 clearly pointed out that “the fundamental principle of respect for each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity is at the core of the three Sino-US joint communiqués which guide China-US relations. Neither side supports any attempt by any force to undermine this principle. The two sides agreed that respecting each other’s core interests is extremely important to ensure steady progress in China-US relations.”

The contract, which benefits Lockheed Martin Corp., being the supplier of the Patriot missile systems, also came after China and the United States issued a joint statement in Beijing in November last year pledging that the two countries would “take concrete steps” to advance “sustained and reliable” military relations.

To what extent this issue will trouble the efforts to improve bilateral relations will be proven quite soon as the two countries are expected to carry out more exchanges in 2010, including a visit by US Defense Secretary Robert Gates to China as well as mutual visits by warships. As China is not very likely to move an inch in its Taiwan posture, it will be up the US to decide how far it is prepared to maintain or to reduce its support for Taiwan.

The consulting firm Eurasia Group recently stated that the U.S.-China relations topped a list of the top 10 risks facing the world in 2010. The consultants said that last November’s summit between Obama and Hu Jintao would be remembered as the peak of relations between the two countries, suggesting that the good ties would deteriorate in 2010.


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By Nicolas von Kospoth, Managing Editor


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