In his Senate testimony, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Richard Lawless indicated that a substantial portion of the 2004 Annual Report on the Military Power of the People/’s Republic of China will be dedicated to the threat posed by Chinese space systems:
I would say that in this year/’s China Military Power Report … some larger relative portion is devoted to the area of space and military use of space.
And we make some judgments in there as to where we think the Chinese plan to take their programs in space. So, we/’ve anticipated that and have addressed that in this year/’s report.
The 2003 edition employs the “private views” of Chinese leaders, “a June 2002 Chinese magazine article”, and “a Hong Kong newspaper” – among other fine sources of information – to depict Chinese capabilities.
The Hong Kong newspaper was especially reliable, as it alleged China was building a “parasitic satellite” with “nanometer-sized components: solar panels, batteries, computers, CCD cameras, communications and propulsion systems, auxiliary equipment, and combat systems.” A nanometer is one billionth of a meter.
I can hardly wait for the 2004 copy. Does this sophistry remind anyone of the Iraq WMD debate?
PS: Guess which country really does have a military nanotechnololgy research program? Go ahead, click if you dare.
