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American Missile Defence: Views from China and Europe

CDR 25, Edited by Professor Neville Brown, May 2000

Following a seminar in Beijing in March 2000 on ballistic missile defence, we commissioned Professor Neville Brown, a participant at the seminar and contributor of two of the papers, to edit this report which comprises the papers presented and discussed at the seminar, and a speech given in the concluding session by China’s chief arms control negotiator, Ambassador Sha Zukang. The report also includes an American critique of US National Missile Defence by Dr. David Wright of the Union of Concerned Scientists. The participants who contributed to this report are senior Chinese, British, German and French defence and foreign ministry officials and distinguished Chinese and British defence analysts, both military and civilian.

This report gives a startling insight into the strength of Chinese opposition to US plans to deploy a National Missile Defence (NMD) system. It addresses concerns, shared by Chinese and European leaders alike, that US deployment of an NMD system would undermine the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, widely seen as an absolute cornerstone of arms control, and could seriously threaten the international arms control and disarmament regime, leading to new multiple arms races and the militarisation of outer space.