-By Andrei Pinkov

KWIC photo

China has made an extremely strong response to the TMD development both the USA and Japan are planning to undertake. There are indications that China has worked out the corresponding counter-measures at least in terms of its " deterrent " level so as to prevent Japan and the USA from including Taiwan in the TMD system. As a Chinese influential scholar of foreign affairs told the KWIC reporter, he believed that the new proliferation of the ballistic missile technology was bound to happen if Japan and the USA insisted on proliferating the anti-ballistic missile technology to Taiwan. This is tantamount to declaring that in this situation, China will not necessarily abide by the understanding it reached with the USA in 1994 on the prevention of the proliferation of ballistic missile technology.

An expert of the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences also indicated to the KWIC reporter that the TMD development would cause China to make an even bigger military investment and to take the corresponding counter-measures, thus jeopardizing the Chinese development policy of " taking the economic construction as the top priority ". He said that the USA had hoped to wear down the Soviet Union through the "Star War" in the 1980s and it would now use the same trick to put pressure on China.

A series of movements also indicate that China hopes to launch an Anti-TMD and anti- NBMD campaign with Russia. Recently, China has repeatly asserted that the TMD plan is in violation of the ABM Treaty reached between the USA and the Soviet Union in 1972. In the meantime, China also wishes to make the ABM Treaty an international one. Though a strong force in the US Congress wants to end or modify the ABM Treaty, yet the motion was strongly opposed by Russia.

The above-mentioned change of China’ s attitude toward the ABM Treaty also indicates that China has more profound implications on the issue of the anti-ballistic missile technology. That is China opposes the US deloyment of the NBMD. It shows that China fears that its limited " second nuclear counter-attack capability " will thus become partially or even totally impotent.

Even though Taiwan will not end up getting totally involved in the TMD plan, the implementation of this plan by the USA and Japan will remain a factor that further complicates the strategic relationships of security between China, Japan, and the USA in the 21st century. This will, in turn, affect the all-rounded development of these entire relationships and will enhance China’ s cooperation with Russia in the similar areas ( Andrei Pinkov).

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