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U.S. Says China Developing Space, Cyber Threats

Posted on: Wednesday, 21 May 2008, 15:20 CDT

U.S. military officials named China as a threat to the United States and other countries in space.

Army Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Horne of the U.S. Strategic Command said China is developing counter-space capabilities, which could add to Beijing’s potential to curb access in the Taiwan Straits “and well beyond.”

Chinese People’s Liberation Army writings imply that China could target and enemy’s spy satellites along with navigation “to blind and deafen,” Horne said.

In early 2007, China showed off PLA’s counter-space capabilities by shooting down its own weather satellites. Horne said the unannounced destruction showed the PLA’s ability to attack satellites operating in low-Earth orbit.

Horne didn’t give details about the implications for possible U.S. responses to any Chinese attack on Taiwan but said the United States must "proactively protect our space capabilities."

The Pentagon's top three contractors by sales Lockheed Martin Corp, Boeing Co and Northrop Grumman Corp would be among the most likely to enter this market.

Another Strategic Command officer, Col. Gary McAlum said cyber attacks could be the most significant 21st century threat and China was already developing its capabilities.

Beijing could wield its power in an effort to take control of Taiwan, a self-ruled island of 23 million people.

Citing a report authored by Kevin Coleman of the Technolytics Institute, a McMurray, Pennsylvania, consultancy, McAlum said China hopes to achieve global "electronic dominance" by 2050. This would include the ability to interfere with information infrastructures.

"I think we could discuss that date offline," McAlum said before the Security Review Commission, a congressionally created advisory group.

One U.S. expert argued that it would be odd to expect China to sit still if it perceived a threat to its strategic weapons and communications in any future conflict.

"It is unreasonable to think that Beijing will permanently accept vulnerability," said David Lampton of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and author of the new book "The Three Faces of Chinese Power: Might, Money, and Minds."

Another State Department official described China's nonproliferation record as mixed.

Patricia McNerney, principal deputy assistant secretary for international security and nonproliferation said that Chinese companies continue to ship weapons to Iran, despite evidence that Tehran is supplying insurgents in Iraq and Islamist groups.

However, McNerney said the United States had conferred with the China North Industries Corp, or NORINCO, and China Great Wall Industries Co. Their response has been "very encouraging," she said.

NORINCO had committed to not selling arms to North Korea and Iran and claims to have turned down more than $100 million in potential contracts with such governments.

"Both companies have adopted comprehensive internal compliance programs and are implementing policies to ensure that inadvertent transactions do not occur," she testified.

Source: redOrbit staff and wire reports

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