Yesterday, I visited the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) museum. CALT designs, develops and manufactures Chinese space launch vehicles and ballistic missiles. The highlight, for me, was a “Smart Dispenser” (SD), which is a CZ-2C upper rocket stage…
The highlight of the Workshop on Technical Aspects of Space Security, so far, has been the tour of The Beijing Museum of Astronautics. I have some great pictures of myself with China’s first ballistic missile (the 1059) and its first…
As I try to write a section in the dissertation on the principles of design behind the Chinese nuclear arsenal, I am confronted by the following two passages, both written by the eminent political scientist John Lewis (no relation): “Zhang…
Zhao Ziyang is reportedly near death. The New York Times hits the high notes: Anointed as a successor to Deng Xiaoping, the country’s paramount leader, Mr. Zhao favored a relatively bold pace of political and economic reform. His hold on…
In a previous post, I noted that the “NAIC estimates China has 140 nuclear ballistic missiles” including about 100 medium range ballistic missiles (MRBMs). A close look at classified documents leaked to the press suggests the number of MRBMs may…
Chen Shui-bian dispersed the crowds that had camped out near the presidential palace by agreeing to an independent panel to investigate the election eve assasination attempt (The 1000 riot police didn’t hurt, either). Taiwan’s CTI Cable News is reporting that…
A spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council said Friday that China “will not sit back and look on unconcerned should the post-election situation in Taiwan get out of control, leading to social turmoil, endangering the lives…
Today, I am working on the dissertation chapter about Chinese nuclear deployments. Recent reports by the Council on Foreign Relations, National Resources Defense Council and the International Institute for Strategic Studies (subscription) all describe the People’s Republic of China as…
