Friday - January 19, 2007

Uh-Oh!

I sense a great disturbance in the Force, Obi-Wan. The Chinese Commies are up to no good and we’re all about to be in deep kimchi if they keep this up. It is becoming obvious that the ChiComs want to be the dominant power in Asia and the Pacific. There is an inevitable showdown coming. It’s too bad Bill Clinton sold them all of our military secrets.

It’s time to fall back on Plan B. Begin construction of the Death Star immediately. We have no time to lose. Powerful they have become. I sense the Dark Side in them ...

Chinese Missile Destroys Satellite In Space
_{(TELEGRAPH-UK) - 7:50am GMT 19/01/2007}

The prospect of “Star Wars” between China and the West loomed last night after Beijing used a ballistic missile to destroy a satellite in space. The missile, which hit a 4ft-wide obsolete Chinese weather satellite 530 miles above the Earth, is thought to have been launched from the Xichang space centre in China’s Sichuan province.

It suggests that the Chinese have developed a major new capability that underscores the communist regime’s desire to use its military might as well as burgeoning economic power to expand its influence.

“The US believes China’s development and testing of such weapons is inconsistent with the spirit of co-operation that both countries aspire to in the civil space area,” said Gordon Johndroe, spokes-man for the US National Security Council, yesterday. “We and other countries have expressed our concern regarding this action to the Chinese.” It is understood that Australia and Canada have also protested to China.

The ability to destroy satellites with such precision could undermine the US National Missile Defence programme, a network of rocket interceptors, computers and satellites intended to protect America and its key allies from nuclear attack. It became known as “Son of Star Wars” after President Ronald Reagan’s so-called “Star Wars” programme proposed in the 1980s.

The test heightens tensions between Washington and Beijing, which increasingly see one another as long-term strategic rivals in the Pacific. China’s navy is undergoing massive expansion that could threaten the independence of its neighbour Taiwan, which is backed by the US.

Taiwan was particularly alarmed at yesterday’s announcement because it relies on satellites to monitor cruise missiles pointed towards it from the Chinese mainland. China is seeking to challenge American military strength in the Far East, including its vital trade routes in the South China Sea and Straits of Malacca.

Short- and medium-range ballistic missiles have been developed with the potential to take on American aircraft carriers. There has also been investment in new nuclear submarines. The People’s Liberation Army Navy has launched as many as 60 ships in the past five years and last March announced that it would build an aircraft carrier. Chinese military spending more than doubled between 1997 and 2003 and is now estimated to be second only to the US as a percentage of GDP.

- More ...

_{(Hat tip to Drudge for finding this)}

Posted by The Skipper     on 01/19/2007 at 04:24 AM   
Filed Under: • Commies • Military •  
• Comments (11) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

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