Inquirer.net:
BEIJING — China launched its first ground-based midcourse missile defense interception test in four years on Monday, a move experts said would further improve China’s long-range missile defence capability during wartime.
The test met expectations and was conducted in Chinese territory, the Defense Ministry said in an online statement on Tuesday. The test was defensive in nature and not targeted at any country, it added.
When asked about the test, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Tuesday that China resolutely follows the path of peaceful development and upholds a defensive national defense policy.
China has conducted three similar tests, in January 2010, January 2013 and July 2014.
The latest test came amid the recent fruition of the $453 million arms deal between the United States and Taiwan, which was approved in 2015.
The deal would allow the US to arm the island with 250 FIM-92 Stinger portable anti-aircraft homing missiles later this year…
