A new U.S. intelligence report predicts China would accelerate its nuclear arms buildup if the United States erected a national defense against long-range missiles. The prediction, in a classified report known as a National Intelligence Estimate, was disclosed Wednesday by U.S. officials speaking on condition of anonymity. They said it is part of a broader assessment of how foreign countries might respond to a U.S. decision to go ahead with a national missile defense. China is among the few nations capable of a nuclear strike on the United States.
Critics say the program is unnecessary in the short term and unworkable.
China and Russia are strongly opposed to the U.S. plan, arguing it would undercut the deterrent value of their nuclear arsenals, violate the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and undermine global stability. As well, many U.S. allies in Europe are leery. President Clinton and his national security aides have tried, with little apparent success, to convince China's leaders that a U.S. national missile defense would not be directed against China's nuclear missile capability. Separately, an unclassified CIA report released Wednesday said China increased its missile technology assistance to Pakistan last year and also had a hand in missile development in North Korea, Iran and Libya. The spread of missile technology is at the heart of the Clinton administration's justification for developing a missile defense.