China successfully tests ballistic missile interception system

Asia-Pacific, News June 22, 2022 , by IRIA No Comments

China carried out a successful test of its land-based ballistic missile interceptor on June 19, 2022.

In a brief statement released by China’s Defense Ministry, it was stated that the test “achieved its expected purpose”. The statement described the missile interceptor as “ground-based mid-course anti-missile intercept technology” without specifying its name and other details. The statement further said that “this test was defensive and not aimed at any country.”

As a part of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ambitious military modernization scheme, China has been working rapidly to enhance its military capabilities by testing, acquiring, and inducting new weaponry for naval, aerial, and land-based warfare. The country is also ramping up its space missions as well as nuclear capabilities.

Beijing’s most recent previous public announcement for a missile interceptor system test came in February 2021. According to the Chinese state-owned media outlets, China has been conducting anti-missile system tests since 2010. The current test marks China’s sixth publicly known land-based missile interception system.

^{A man walks past a model of LY-70 air defense missile weapon system displayed at the China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition, or Airshow China, in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, China September 29, 2021. (Image Credit: Aly Song/Reuters)}

In 2016, when South Korea announced that it would deploy a U.S.-made Terminal High Altitude Air Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system, China along with Russia protested U.S.’s increasing military involvement in the region. China argues that the THAAD’s powerful radar could penetrate its territory, inciting a security risk.

China has given very few details about its recently tested missile-interception system, however, based on the size of the closed airspace for testing some experts believe that the tested system could be a medium-range HQ19 anti-missile system. In order to tackle short-range, medium-range, and long-range missiles, China has developed the HQ9 and HQ19 missile defense systems for the first two and has not yet publicly announced the development of a system that can intercept longer-range and intercontinental ballistic missiles. China’s HQ19 falls in the same category as U.S. THAAD anti-missile system.

The tensions between the U.S. and China are on the rise, especially after U.S. President Joe Biden stated that the United States would intervene ‘militarily’ if China aggressively pursues Taiwan.

The U.S. military has also been carrying out frequent military exercises with its allies in the Pacific. Although the U.S. proclaims that its exercises with South Korea and Japan are aimed toward stabilizing peace in the region due to North Korea’s increasing missile testing which has alarmed South Korea and Western observers, Beijing’s friendly relationship with the North means it is likely more concerned about other threats, such as from India, with which it shares long-simmering border tensions, and the US, which has deployed military assets in the region close to China.