Important Propaganda article to take "on board"

as this will be used as a pretext later

USAF Officials: Chinese Satellite Strike Shows Need For Missile Shield

By JOHN T. BENNETT

China’s decision to destroy an aging satellite with a missile launched from Earth was “irresponsible,” and — along with a July 4 North Korea missile test — proves the United States should move forward with controversial plans to build a missile shield, say U.S. Air Force officials.

The January launch proved Beijing can take out satellites using its missile arsenal, but it also left behind a “debris trail” that put other nations’ commercial and military space orbiters “at risk,” said U.S. Air Force Gen. Kevin Chilton, Air Force Space Command chief. He will soon assume command of U.S. Strategic Command.

The China strike and the North Korea launch in early July — which saw Pyongyang test fire one long-range missile and five shorter-range munitions — “made the case, in my opinion, for missile defense,” Chilton said Sept. 25 during an Air Force Association-sponsored conference in Washington D.C.

Some critics, especially some congressional Democrats, have slammed the Bush administration and Pentagon officials for pursuing the conceptual missile defense system.

“The ASAT test also showed that space is a domain where [enemies] will try to take away our asymmetric advantage,” he added.

Gen. Paul Hester, commander of U.S. Pacific Air Forces (PACAF), said he recently visited China and pressed People’s Liberation Army Air Force officials to “be more transparent” to the world about just how the nation is building up its military.

Chinese officials for years have erected a thick curtain of secrecy that has so far left the world guessing about the Asian giant’s plans, and the true power of its military.

During the visit, Chinese air service officials took Hester’s delegation to “an airfield we have never seen before” to view the nation’s J-10 fighter and other aircraft.

The visit was merely “one data point” in what American military officials in the region hope will eventually be more regular bilateral visits, Hester said.

While U.S. military officials have reached out to their Chinese counterparts in a number of ways, “that has not yet been reciprocated,” he noted.

Overall, PACAF officials are not on the “full trot” with the Chinese that they feel is needed to build stronger relations with what some say will likely be a top military competitor for the U.S. “We’re working to get that up to speed,” he added.

As for North Korea, Hester made clear the importance of the so-called “six-party talks.”

Those multi-lateral meetings, held periodically, “have to work,” he told the conference. Any progress in improving U.S.-North Korean relations “depends a lot on what happens with [Pyongyang’s] nuclear program.”