Late at night on February 4, 2021 Beijing time, China’s Ministry of Defense announced that it had conducted a ground-based mid-course anti-missile interception technology test within the territory of China, and the test achieved its expected goal. China’s defense ministry stressed that the test was defensive in nature and not aimed at any country.
This is China’s initiative to announce the land-based mid-course anti-ballistic missile intercept technology test, and some military experts have analyzed that China’s mindset is becoming more open and confident as its anti-satellite and anti-missile technology becomes more and more mature.
It is the fifth time that China has publicly announced that it has conducted a test of ground-based anti-missile technology. The previous four tests took place on January 11, 2010, January 27, 2013, July 23, 2014 and February 6, 2018.
So far, only China, the United States and Japan have conducted similar mid-course anti-missile interception tests.
Song Zhongping, a military expert, said it shows that China’s land-based anti-ballistic missile interception technology is becoming more mature and has practical interception capability and combat effectiveness.
China’s defense ministry announced the test of land-based anti-missile technology on the same day that the USS John McCain sailed through the Taiwan Strait, the first time a U.S. warship has crossed the Taiwan Strait since Joe Biden took office.
Some analysts also see this as a warning to India, as it was reported in January that Indian defense ministry sources said India plans to deploy its longest-range and most powerful nuclear ballistic missile – the Agni-V by 2021.
In addition, such anti-ballistic missile weapon of China military is also believed to have anti-satellite capabilities.
