Beijing Extends Helping Hand—and Its Reach
Dean Cheng /
In the course of an eventful week, the People’s Republic of China has had a chance to display the full range of modern capabilities that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is acquiring.
At one end, on January 11, the Chinese announced that they had successfully engaged in a mid-course interception of a missile. While the Chinese have not been forthcoming with much information about the test, including the type of interceptor, the target, or the location of the test, the test, which has been confirmed by the US DOD, puts potential adversaries on notice that China is developing an anti-missile capability. The implications of such a development are likely to be felt not only in Washington and Taipei, which do not rely on ballistic missiles for most of their defense needs, but also New Delhi, which does. (more…)