From The Wall Street Journal, via Carnegie Endowment for International Peace website:
On Jan. 11, 2007, a Chinese medium-range ballistic missile slammed into an aging weather satellite in space. The resulting collision not only marked Beijing’s first successful anti-satellite (ASAT) test but, in the eyes of many, also a head-on collision with the Bush administration’s space policies.
As one analyst phrased it, U.S. policy has compelled China’s leaders to conclude “that only a display of Beijing’s power to launch . . . an arms race would bring Washington to the table to hear their concerns.” This view, which is widespread in the U.S. and elsewhere, misses the point: China’s ASAT demonstration was not a protest against the Bush administration, but rather part of a maturing strategy designed to counter the overall military superiority of the U.S. [Full Text]
Ashley J. Tellis is a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
