China: July 30, 2003

Archives

The US announced that China had increased its production of short range ballistic missiles aimed at Taiwan. These are DF-15 missiles, weighing 6.2 tons, with a range of 500 kilometers and carrying a one ton, non-nuclear,  warhead. These missiles are thought to be aimed at Taiwanese air, naval and army bases and would be used for a surprise attack (in order to do maximum damage) if China decided to take Taiwan by force. China is said to be producing 75 DF-15 missiles a year now. The US government military analysts also said that China may be spending three times it's declared defense budget of $20 billion. This has long been a common ploy with communist nations, understating defense spending. In any event, the US expects China to continue increasing defense spending, effectively doubling their defense spending between 2000 and 2005. 

 

 

X

ad

Help Keep Us From Drying Up

We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling.

Each month we count on your contributions. You can support us in the following ways:

  1. Make sure you spread the word about us. Two ways to do that are to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
  2. Subscribe to our daily newsletter. We’ll send the news to your email box, and you don’t have to come to the site unless you want to read columns or see photos.
  3. You can contribute to the health of StrategyPage.
Subscribe   Contribute   Close