China said Tuesday it had successfully tested a missile intercept system in what analysts described as a show of its advanced air defence capabilities amid tensions over US arms sales to Taiwan. "China conducted a test of ground-based mid-range missile interception technology within its territory, which achieved its objective," foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told reporters.
"This test is defensive in nature and not targeted at any other country and is consistent with the national defence policy of China," Jiang said. The news comes soon after a US official in Taipei said the Pentagon had approved the sale of Patriot missile equipment to Taiwan as part of a package passed by Congress more than a year ago.
Beijing - which considers Taiwan part of its territory and has vowed to take the island back, by force if necessary - has repeatedly voiced its opposition to the sales and urged Washington to cancel the deal. China's defence ministry had warned at the weekend that it reserved the right to take unspecified action if Washington followed through with the sale, which it called a "severe obstacle" to China-US military ties. The United States is the leading arms supplier to Taiwan, even though it switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979.
But analysts said while China's test would keep pressure on the United States over the Taiwan deals, it was likely to have been conducted as a general show of force. "It sounds pretty significant to me," Richard Bitzinger, an expert on China's military at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, told AFP. "The information is pretty thin, but the critical fact is that they conducted a successful missile intercept."
Scott Harold, an analyst at the Rand Corporation, agreed, saying: "I would be inclined to view the test as a stride - but how much of one is unclear in the absence of more information - towards a missile defence capability." Arthur Ding, an expert at Taiwan's National Chengchi University, said the test would send a "political signal to the United States and to other countries that China is prepared for air operations, full-scale operations by whatever country."
"There is no detailed information so it is very hard to assess how much China has achieved, but at least it can show a trend that air defence is an area of focus for the overall military modernisation," he said. Beijing has poured money into its military in recent years as part of a major drive to upgrade the equipment used by the nation's 2.3-million-strong armed forces.
China's military spending rose 15.3 percent in 2009 to 69 billion dollars, according to a budget submitted to parliament in March, the latest in more than a decade-long string of double-digit increases. But amid growing concern overseas about China's military intentions, Beijing frequently stresses the defensive nature of its armed forces.
"China's defence modernisation is for the legitimate needs of safeguarding national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity," Jiang said Tuesday. The Global Times quoted senior military strategist Yang Chengjun as saying that the test had "ushered China into a new phase in terms of missile interception technologies".
"China needs an improved capability and more means of military defence as the country faces increasing security threats," Yang was quoted as saying. One Western military expert based in Beijing, who asked not to be identified, told AFP: "What's important is that they showed their willingness to demonstrate China's capabilities."
Ding said the latest military display could not be compared to a 2007 test that saw China destroy one of its own orbiting satellites with a missile, sparking international concerns. That test came after the United States under former president George W. Bush announced a plan to weaponise space - a move opposed by Beijing and Moscow.
Monday's missile intercept "has to do with China's own comprehensive air defence system... defence against cruise missiles and against ballistic missiles in the future, or any other air war operations," Ding said. The state-run Global Times newspaper said it conducted an online poll that showed 98.8 percent of Chinese respondents supported the development of the anti-missile system.