Chinese Abstracts:

The Impact of Missile and TMD Proliferation on Stability in East Asia

Wei Qiyong

A missile race is currently going on in Asia, with India, Pakistan, Taiwan, North Korea, South Korea, and Japan overtly or covertly developing missiles or missile-related technology . The development and deployment of TMD systems will fuel this dangerous competition, thus undermining regional peace and stability. The proliferation of TMD is closely interrelated with missile proliferation. It could help the party that receives TMD technology develop ballistic missiles, as the TMD technology in general is more difficult than ballistic missile technology in many aspects. TMD proliferation will also have a serous impact on China’s peaceful unification with Taiwan and will intensify the arms race between the two sides. Wei Qiyong concludes that this arms race cannot be eased only through arms control efforts, but that  political dialogue is also needed to build relationships of mutual understanding and trust among nations in the region.

Wei Qiyong is a senior research fellow with the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology.

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