Ballistic Missile Defense and China: China's Past, Military Technologies, and Shaping the World's Future

摘要

Considering how missile defense systems will affect China's Air Force and Ballistic Missile inventory, how will China respond to the U.S. plan to develop missile defense systems and what can the U.S. do to mitigate any negative repercussions. The United States has chosen to withdraw from the 30 year Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty with Russia which will allow it to develop and produce a theater missile defense (TMD). The People's Republic of China (PRC) seeks to become the dominant power in the Asian Pacific region through the acquisition of advanced technology and weapons systems like the Soviet SU-27 and the proliferation of its conventional and nuclear missile arsenals. The eventuality of U.S. TMD has the potential to decrease the credibility of both types of weapons for which China has paid so much. TMD threatens china s quest to become recognized a regional superpower. To assess what the possible reactions to the implementation of TMD may be this paper will discuss China's past as it applies to their quest to be respected as a world power. To get a feel for how the PRC may react to TMD it will then emphasize some of the events seen in the media that paint the PRC a ruthless government with hegemonic intentions. The paper will then assess the credibility of the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) and China's missile arsenal and how missile defense will then affect these parts of China s military. Considering China's recent behavior and the affect of TMD on its military the paper will attempt to predict some of the possible reactions to the implementation of TMD. Finally, to mitigate the effect of the potential reactions several suggestions will be recommended to minimize negative political and military consequences. China has taken great strides to upgrade its military to become more modern and competitive with other nations in the region and the U.S.