CHINESE GOVERNMENT TESTS A MISSILE INTERCEPTOR

Mon 20 June 2022:

China’s defense ministry claimed a land-based missile intercept test “achieved its expected purpose,” describing it as defensive and not aimed at any country.

The ministry announced in a brief statement late Sunday that the “ground-based midcourse anti-missile intercept technology” test had carried out that night.

“The test reached its expected goals,” the ministry said. “This test was defensive and not aimed at any country.”

It provided no other details.

As part of President Xi Jinping’s ambitious modernization plan, China has increased research into a wide range of missiles, from those that can destroy satellites in orbit to powerful nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles.

Beijing has previously conducted missile interceptor tests, the most recent of which was announced in February 2021, and the one before that in 2018. China has been testing anti-missile systems since at least 2010, according to state media.

China has repeatedly expressed concern to the United States’ deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system in South Korea, as has its ally Russia.

The equipment’s powerful radar, China claimed, might penetrate its territory. Simulated anti-missile drills have also been held by China and Russia.

Aside from rare brief announcements by the defense ministry or in official media, China has provided few details about its missile programs.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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