Missile Interceptor

China has “successfully tested a missile interceptor” according to state media – with officials insisting the technology is “defensive” and “not targeted at any country”. “The announcement came amid repeated complaints from Beijing over the US sale of weaponry including Patriot PAC-3 air defence missiles to Taiwan. In a terse three-sentence report, the official Xinhua news agency reported late last night that ‘ground-based midcourse missile interception technology’ was tested within Chinese territory. ‘The test has achieved the expected objective,’ it added, without specifying whether the missile had been destroyed, although the US reported detecting a collision. Xinhua added: ‘The test is defensive in nature and is not targeted at any country.’ The report, which was issued unusually quickly, followed days of criticism of the US arms sales.”