“China performed a successful anti-satellite weapons test” last week, according to Aviation Week. In the trial, a ballistic missile, armed with a non-explosive warhead, “destroy[ed] an aging Chinese weather satellite target” over 500 miles above the Earth, U.S. intelligence agencies believe.
The news comes just a few months after reports of China testing high-powered lasers to temporarily blind American orbiters. “If the test is verified it will signify a major new Chinese military capability,” AvWeek says. And it could be the spark that ignites an arms race in space, analysts believe. Theresa Hitchens, with the Center for Defense Information called it an “irresponsible and self-defeating act” that will give “space hawks more ammunition to take the United States down a similarly dangerous path.”
Details emerging from space sources indicate that the Chinese Feng Yun 1C (FY-1C) polar orbit weather satellite… was attacked by an ASAT [anti-satellite] system launched from or near the Xichang Space Center.
The attack is believe to have occurred as the weather satellite flew at 530 mi. altitude 4 deg. west of Xichang, located in Sichuan province…
Although intelligence agencies must complete confirmation of the test, the attack is believed to have occurred at about 5:28 p.m. EST Jan. 11. U. S. intelligence agencies had been expecting some sort of test that day, sources said.…
USAF radar reports on the Chinese FY-1C spacecraft have been posted once or twice daily for years, but those reports jumped to about 4 times per day just before the alleged test.
The USAF radar reports then ceased Jan. 11, but then appeared for a day showing “signs of orbital distress”. The reports were then halted again. The Air Force radars may well be busy cataloging many pieces of debris, sources said.
Harvard University’s Jeffrey Lewis, a self-admitted skeptic about China’s space ambitions, has been hearing from many sources in recent months that “Chinas ASAT work seem[s] to have been ramping up.” He writes over at his blog, Arms Control Wonk:
If China has conducted an ASAT test, this is extremely bad. I had been hoping that the Bush Administration would push for a ban on anti-satellite testing, either in the form of a code of conduct. The Bush folks, however, have been fond of saying that wasnt necessary, because ‘there is no arms race in space.‘
Well, we have one now, instigated by an incredibly short-sighted Chinese government.
(Big ups: EM)
UPDATE 11:42 AM: Why would Beijing pull a stunt like this? The China Matters blog has a theory. Meanwhile, one keen space-watcher notes that, if this anti-sat weapon was really “kinetic” — i.e., hit-to-kill, non-explosive — instead of a plain ol’ exploding weapon, that’s extremely bad news. That means the booster rocket has to be very accurate “in order to deliver the kill vehicle to the desired initial trajectory.… Then the kill vehicle needs to tweak its trajectory into a precise collision course using on-board propulsion and either on-board target tracking or… command guidance from the ground.” That’s no mean task.
ALSO:
* China Space Attack: Unstoppable
* Beijing’s Next-Gen Sat Strike
* Satellite Killer’s Broad Impact
* Why Did China Smack the Sat?
* China Sat-Killer Not Yet Weapons Grade?
* Who Ordered the Satellite Strike?
{ 55 comments… read them below or add one }
SCARY!!! I could care less if any nation has anti-sat weapons. Just because someone has the capabailty doesn’t mean that it will ever be used. The US Intel community should stop wasting time spying on developed countries. The Chinese or Russians are not going to detonate a smuggled nuclear weapon in the US, like transnational Islamic terrorists would. So who is the bigger danger? We can’t find UBL, but we can spy all day long on China’s wannabe military projects.
It would be uselful though if the US starts another war, because no group/nation will ever wage another conventional war against the US, which is why the Pentagon is clueless, and will get caught with its pants down, again. They prefer to buy small numbers of big sexy war machines. The last line of the post about China being short sighted is beyond ridiulous (Five Year Plan), no country is more short sighted than the US. East vs West philosophy.
Suggesting that the Chinese have started an arms race in space is really cute.
Does he think anyone is going to believe it?
re: “short sighted”. No, not a far East character at all, instead, they tend to take a very long look at the future. I do not subscribe to the “transformation” bit, but I would agree that armed conflict with China is all but inevitable. I expect that they are taking a long look, allowing us to squander our military (or willingness to employ it)in mid-Eastern matters.
as to an arms race in space……our ARROGANCE in supposing our continual supremacy, is short sighted indeed.
’twill be most interesting to find out, neh?
As I recall any country has the right to the sovreign airspace 50 miles above their country.
Everything after 50 miles is like international waters.
If I were President, any attempt made to subvert or destroy American interests in those “international space waters,” would be an act of war.
I’m interested to hear what the illustrious Theresa Hitchens of CDI has to say about this event, after dismissing claims of “China’s burgeoning antisatellite capabilities” in a previous post (Chinese Laser vs. U.S. Sats?). “Who SAYS?” quoth Ms. Hitchens. Well, I guess the Chinese say so.
A “Code of Counct”? Why didn’t I think of that. It’s obvious, the Chinese would never violate a “code of Conduct”.
“If China has conducted an ASAT test, this is extremely bad. I had been hoping that the Bush Administration would push for a ban on anti-satellite testing, either in the form of a code of conduct. The Bush folks, however, have been fond of saying that wasn
It is probably true that China will not attack us directly, at least not until others have done it for them. China is perfectly content to quietly build its military capabilities while displaying to the rest of the world the fiction that they are a peaceful, responsible nation. Hosting the Olympics is great PR on the world stage, and it is a key factor in perpetuating that image. China will happily work behind the scenes and in the shadows to encourage others to attack us and further bog us down. Once they are convinced that we are sufficiently overextended militarily, they will finally make their move on Taiwan, capture it, and then issue a nuclear weapons-backed ultimatum for us to stay out of their affairs. BTW, internal Chinese military doctrine not only regards Taiwan as Chinese property, but also regards the Phillipines, Japan, Hawaii and other Pacific nations as historically Chinese property, and they ultimately intend to take them back. They figure it’s “their turn” to be a world superpower, now that the Soviet Union is no more.
We will be involved in a hot war with China within the next 20 years, and it will probably go nuclear.
This article has information, but the replies are very funny to watch. Americans use their “American logic” to evaluate China, which leads to many laughable conclusions that make sense only to Americans.
Since America is more and more incapable of stopping Taiwanese declaration of independence, the Chinese declassification of some technological progress is just to remind folks that war is going to be tough for everybody.
It is purely American imperialism to forbid others do what Americans have done decades ago.
A U.S. WAR WITH CHINA IS NOT INEVITABLE!
There are ways and means of avoiding war if you really want to (accepting rulings of the UN and International Court and through non-aggressive diplomacy). The problem with the U.S. is they’ve become reliant on war to achieve political goals and prop up their economy. America spends more on “defence” (in the Orwellian sense of the term) than the rest of the world combined and has been, in some way, shape or form, permanently at war since the War of 1939-45, yet they claim to be “a peace loving nation.”
The question shouldn’t be how you can beat China in the next inevitable war, but how you can avoid war altogether.
-oz
No real suprise for Red China to act in this manner. Sad thing is, our “trade partner” is looking at the Taiwan straits plausible only within a decisive action. While we barely maintain conformity from admin to admin our little buddies are looking forward to their children bening the world’s rulers. So first stop Taiwan, then onto claiming all the US assets we are in hawk to them. Hell, our media will notice it only when their communist rag sails over our soil. China is about to embark on New World History, that is to say they’re going to show the world what domination is all about. Scary stuff. Cause even after this idiotic move we are still “friends.” Is that because of their financial affluence?
1. This ASAT technology, apparently being kinetic, need not be super-sophisticated. Compare a sniper’s round to a shotgun blast. Both will hit a target, but it’s a lot easier merely to aim in the general direction of the target.
2. Chinese culture has long been known for taking the long view. Current Chinese political leadership is, at heart, unconcerned with world reaction unless it suits their purposes. They pay lip service and Pollyanna-ish simpletons like “oz” buy every word of it. Assume every action taken by the Chinese political machine to be considered as conferring a benefit, somewhere along the timeline.
3. ASAT technologies can also be employed against ballistic missiles that have not reached final re-entry and deployed warheads. From a military point of view unconcerned with civilian casualties, as long as that nuclear warhead doesn’t detonate, who cares if multiple tons of wreckage plunges to the ground, either in my territory or perhaps another’s?
4. If I can neutralize your nuclear threat effectively, and I out-number many of the nations on the planet combined, and I have enormous stockpiles of cheap weapons with world-wide stocks of common ammunition, I win. Especially if my cultural value system places a low emphasis on the value of human lives. Cannon fodder for breakfast, anyone?
5. The reason for political deference to China due to its questionable status as “Trade Partner” by the U.S. is self-evident. The politicos dance to the tune that their financial puppeteers whistle, and cheaper is better, right?
Even if all of your technology is stolen, sold, or reverse-engineered, right? RIGHT?
6. Have you ever been in a public venue with a wide variety of ethnic and cultural diversity? Have you observed the prevalent behaviors of the various ethnicities and cultures? I myself most often note Asian peoples as the least considerate of others, the most arrogant in their dealings, and the most apt to make distinctions based on the most trivial of differences.
7. Due to human nature, pacifism is a Darwinian aberration. The more warlike will simply eliminate those not willing to respond to aggression with aggression. This applies one on one, tribe on tribe, and nation on nation.
The most ironic aspect is that the United States, due to its unique geographical separation and lack of centuries-old historical legacy, has quite often been isolationist. Before both of the World Wars in the 20th Century (Western-centric), the U.S. maintained a fierce “Not My Problem” stance. That is, until some over-confident aggressor committed some barbaric act.
That’s when that unique geographical separation coupled with vast natural resources and backed by an in-grained sense of equal parts defiance and vindictiveness becomes lethally effective.
America is a cultural/political entity that pretty much avoids the pitfalls that plague cultures in long-populous portions of the world. For the most part, American culture isn’t constantly playing down historical legacies and the attendant resentments.
Look at Bosnia. Once the Soviet hammer fell and shattered the Soviet sickle, centuries of religious hostilities exploded. Result: atrocities of horrifying scale. Trace out the root causes and you’ll have a pristine example of why the U.S. is what it is.
Look at China, consider the points above, assume the worst of human nature will come to the fore, and the road ahead is obviously fraught with peril.
Why is China super obsessed about Taiwan for? You’ve been seperated (and most Taiwanese want it that way) for 50 or 60 years now. Get over it China! You got rejected by your love interest.
Wait a minute, I thought we (the USA) were the only ones in the world allowed to do stuff like this??!!
http://www.minor-ripper.blogspot.com
The Taiwan-China issue is like the US civil war. Taiwanese are racially Chinese. They are the SAME people. Most Taiwanese still have blood relatives living in China. Taiwan became a political entity because the KMT government (that claimed rule over mainland China in the 1940s) fled to Taiwan after losing the civil war to its communist brethern. Everyone in the KMT government that started Taiwan in the 1940s was born and brought up in mainland China. In fact, it was the NATIONAL Taiwanese government policy to reclaim the mainland. That’s why the official name of Taiwan remains The Republic of CHINA. Starting in the 1980s, when the Taiwanese govt realized that it can’t reclaim the mainland that it started on the separatist path. Even then, not everyone on Taiwan wants to be a separate country. It just appears that way in the media because the separatists make more prevocative statements and the pro-separatist media play up unscientific opinion polls to portray that the entire population wants separation.
To say that China is threatening to foreign countries because of its Taiwan policy is disingenous. The Confederates wanted to have their own separate states but the northerners refused. Had the Union not prevailed in the war, there would be 2 countries on today’s continental USA. If California today wants to seceed from the USA because of differences in political opinion and “cultural differences”, there would be considerable unrest. Despite the supposed freedoms in the US, I don’t think the President and the rest of the country would allow it. Even in relative seclusive Quebec, its secession efforts were met with considerable anger in the rest of Canada. Now, can you understand the groundswell sentiment in China against an separate Taiwan?
To allow Taiwan to separate from China will really split China. This is not only opposed by Chinese living on the mainland but also Chinese living outside China. It is seen as a betrayal of blood ties. The US should stay out of this. The white man has a terrible not to mention bloody record of making things worse for other races–remember the short shrifting of native american tribes for one.
In stark contrast, the USA has been invading other countries post WW2. There is no natural right that the US should be the pre-eminent superpower in the world. American military spying on China and Bush’s claim on space are provocative acts. It’s time that the rest of world balance or even contain American power. Americans should not be allowed to run the world and dictate terms. US behaviour at the UN is callous and arrogant. It accuses the UN of being ineffective but that’s only because the UN doesn’t agree with US policy. Why do you think the muslims are resorting to terrorist acts to fight the US?—because they feel aggrieved against the US running roughshod over everyone in the middle east. Terrorism is the last straw–it’s really a sign that the people fighting you are so oppressed that they don’t care to live anymore–they only want to hurt you back. It’s too much to ask the US to choose to do right when it conflicts with its self-interest. That’s why the current political environment where the US is the sole superpower is destablizing for the world. The US has to be contained. Russia is preoccupied with its own issues. Hopefully, China can play a role to counterbalance the US.
JH,
Imaging some foreign country telling Abraham Lincoln forget about the Civil War even after years of ideology split between Northern and Southern United States.
Credit should be given to China that she is trying her very best to reslove the Taiwan issue peacefully.
The two most powerful nations go to war with each other, and people think their will be a winner. There has never been a direct conflict with two great powers, with each country having nuclear weapons. Put down the anti-Soviet logic and tactics, they will not work. I am still amazed we survived the Cold War, came pretty damn close of blowing up the planet though. Why people want to try it again is beyond me.
Every action in the World has an equal and opposite reaction, with a system constantly trying to seek and maintain a balance. Empires rise to fill vacuum of other dying Empires (US topped out around 1902). We can go quietly and benefit from it, or we can go messy and lose it all, but a new balance (new world order) is inevitable. If you have never been to mainland China, and interacted with the locals, you don’t know what you
Well, basically, the American Government is a bunch of assholes and the Chinese Government is a bunch of assholes. Eventually China will give USA some of their own back, then they’ll be the world superpower and we’ll all be used in Chinese medical experiments and have operations done on us while we’re awake.
Who started the Nuclear test first, the US
After they got the data, information and technic, they ask the world do not carry out nuclear tests.
Whoever do it is Devil.
Who carry out the satellite killer scheme first, the US
After they got what they want, they tell the world not to do it, and the Chinese is ‘inconsistent with the spirit of cooperation that both countries aspire to in the civil space ‘area.
Is it fair
Go china, i mean come on, USA has spy sats spying on eveyone, and now when china proves they can shoot down Satallites the USA starts to cry to mamma, Americans are Hypocrites and Democracy just dosnt work…all i can say well done china lets see what else you can do to stick it to the american bullies.
i think we should fry the chinks and russkis with as many a bombs as we need.i am sick of them using third world coutrys to fight us.so lets nukem now.
BT,
You and I agree more than we disagree. You say that I blew it with the comparison to Hitler’s Germany prior to WW2, but then you go on to say that China will dominate Asia. Did you mean militarily or only economically? As for power projection, they have already purchased 2 aircraft carriers that the Russians could no longer afford to operate, and word has it that the Russians, who desperately need cash, are building more for them. Also, the Chinese are well underway with a massive naval buildup in their own shipyards, independent of those purchases.
It is true that China currently lacks large numbers of heavy transport aircraft, but with Rumsfeld’s ill-conceived decision to allow Boeing to set up a plant in China to produce transport aircraft assemblies, you can be sure that they will take that expertise and use it to build their own fleet of transports.
My statement was that China will not only expand economically, but will also move to aquire territory, and the first territory will likely be Taiwan. There are those who will say that’s OK, because it was “theirs” to start with. Japan started expanding their empire prior to WW2 by military conquest, largely because they were resource-poor and wanted more territory. China is not as resource-poor as was Japan, but just to give one example of what I’m talking about, for the past few years Chinese workers have been taking large amounts of timber from Russian territory in Siberia, without their approval. Russia simply cannot stop them, because they can’t easily defend those areas. China also needs oil, just as Japan did prior to WW2, and they aren’t sitting on any major reserves, so they must get it from other countries. They’ll buy the oil for now, but to achieve their dominance of Asia and maintain their military, they’re going to want a source of oil that they can control.
You and I are also in agreement about the ultimate fate of China’s economy under Communist rule. China, Cuba and North Korea are the last major bastions of Communism that haven’t yet “seen the light,” but that doesn’t mean things will end peacefully. In fact, whenever things do start to crumble for China, that’s when you really have to start worrying, because desperation can cause normally sane leaders to do things they wouldn’t ordinarily do. I’m not advocating that we attack China or try to impede their trade. I, like you, would like nothing better than for all countries to trade freely and fairly, and live with each other peacefully. However, China’s massive military buildup goes way beyond their defensive needs, and its offensive capabilities are growing fast.
Fair enough, although I’m not buying the imperialism. Well oil is oil, their troops should be invading Iraq/Iran, not the US. I stand by my second paragraph. It would be nice if everyone in the world would start hating China, like they hate us.
Chinese hate nobody. What makes people hate China is Jealous, Prejudice and selfish.
Look at these:
“think we should fry the chinks and russkis with as many a bombs as we need.i am sick of them using third world coutrys to fight us.so lets nukem now” —Chinese just shot their own Sate.
“Wait a minute, I thought we (the USA) were the only ones in the world allowed to do stuff like this??!!”—It is so called American imperialism
“China’s massive military buildup goes way beyond their defensive needs, and its offensive capabilities are growing fast.”
—so Chinese are evil
“China and India will be more important than Japan and Europe in the future,”
“China is going to be a Superpower and will dominate Asia,”
—The rise of the Chinese means compitition, these make the US feel uncomfortable and jealous,coz they think they are the only one to maintain the stability of the world(rule the world).
US is the most powerful country in the world, why you are so scared.
You have machine-guns already, your enemy just got a 10 inches knife, one day, you find your enemy’s weapons improved into a 12 inches sword,
so you are scared, don’t you think its funny?
Stop being jelous about china. Hopefully they will grow bigger and more powerful and ‘police’ the world beter than the US did.
Chinese do not want to be the ‘World Police’
Chinese just do something for their nation’s security and development. Thats it.
Friends,
I dont think that China going to be so hush like that.History shows that there are not likely to be an imperialism state.They have a very strong fleet those days but still history shows that they never invaded others teritory.They come peacefully as a friend to form a relationship in terms of economic,calture,understanding and etc.
The only thing that they want,is to approve china as a state and all state are welcome to be a good friends.I never came across my history book telling me that China invaded other countries..to take the countries..but i do came across certain countries from west which is thousand miles away from asia..sailing and take over other countries in asia..China..in fact so near to our country for a comparison.
So, I dont think that we should see this as a threat..spying other countries and create unstablise climate around the world is really not a good ideas.The USA knows about it..so does their allies.Please react wisely for the peace in the world and dont create tense just to gain political,economical and imperial ambitious..the citizen pay the tax.
I agreed with the comment below… It is democracy, right?
Who started the Nuclear test first, the US
After they got the data, information and technic, they ask the world do not carry out nuclear tests.
Whoever do it is Devil.
Who carry out the satellite killer scheme first, the US
After they got what they want, they tell the world not to do it, and the Chinese is ‘inconsistent with the spirit of cooperation that both countries aspire to in the civil space ‘area.
Please Stop Organ Trade and Organ Harvesting in China First.. As rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poor I really fail to see the issue of social responsibility from any angle.
Why can’t the United States use the same mind set the Chinese did to take out the aging weather satellite that we could utilize in taking out the spy satellite?
how about the services
? Diva
G ?
PlusOne 2 RMT ?2
IP-VPN VPN ?
32 ?
?
?
?
http://www.gasalarm.org
http://www.gasalarm.org/alcohol-tester.htm
Nice essay
Historically there is no evidence to suggest China would attack the US.
They are however resolute in pursuing policies that economically disenfranchise other countries,
?
?
RC
??
????
???????
RC ??
like transnational Islamic terrorists would. So who is the bigger danger? We can’t find UBL, but we can spy all day long on China’s wannabe military projects.
?????
YAHOO
tanks very very nice..!!
??????? ??????|??????? ?????|??????? ??????|??????? ?????|??????? ????|??????? ?????|??? ??????|????? ???|????? ?????|????|?????|???|??? ?????|??????|?????? ?????????? ?????????|????? ????? ??????|??? ???????|????? ????|??????? ??????|??????? ??????|??????? ?????|????? ??????|?????? ???????|???|????? ??????|????? ???????|????? ??????|???? ??????|?????? ???????|?????? ????|????|??? ?????|???|?????|????? ?????|???|???|??????|?????|?????????? ??????|??????? ????|????|???? ?????|
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
?
?
FX
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
???????????????????????????
I always adhere to and keep a distance from everyone. Until now, I did not have a true friend, although I was a lonely, although I did not like the other players that they have many friends send them cheap zeny, I must be rely on myself, at least I will not hurt anybody, and perhaps this is kind of happiness.
Looking back at the past, in those days, we played together; we have no much rappelz money, we have no need equipment and no senior friends too us, but I am still playing very happy. Rappelz left everywhere in our laughter. There is only one reason is that I have her around, I would meet, everything becomes unimportant. One thing I feel very sorry, that is when I married her, mo gorgeous fireworks, mo friends of blessing. Now I have heart, I feel wronged her, I am sorry to her.
Later, in January of this year, I have entered into this long hoped for world. Following in their previous game, I have some experience, at first I bought some RF cp to arm my number, so I grew up gradually. Later, I joined the empire of darkness, I recognize some friends. Later matured, I separated from the darkness; to join a trade union has just established a new, expanding trade union began a journey, and I recognized a lot of friends.
I have not had to play Gaia, and occasionally I will play friend number, in order to spent time. One day, one more than 20 levels player asked me if I can as her husband. At that time, I think she is a fraudsters, I think that number had no things. So I asked her if she had QQ and video. She said she had. So we added QQ and started video, after a short of time video chat, I knew that she was not a liar, she just a new player of Gaia. Soon, we closed the video, we returned to the game, and I bought Gaia gold change some things that married need use, and we married.
Virtual net works, virtual role of the game, I did not as him what people. It is only a game; happy is the purpose of the game. I chat with him happy. I have an on line he will not be alone to upgrade and earn GuildWars money, but rather for the first time chat with me, in this way we often sit together.