Charles R. Smith
Thursday, Dec. 18, 2003

U.S. intelligence officials are quietly confirming that China has deployed its newest long-range missile. The Chinese army now has up to 12 Dong Feng 31 (East Wind) missiles, which can deliver nuclear warheads against America.

"China now has approximately 36 intercontinental missiles that can hit the United States – 24 older CSS-4 missiles and up to 12 new Dong Feng 31 missiles," said Col. Larry Wortzel, vice president of the Heritage Foundation.

"The Dong Feng 31 missiles can reach Alaska and the western U.S. China has also tested the Dong Feng 31 with multiple warheads," stated Col. Wortzel during a recent Washington conference on missile defense.

The new Dong Feng 31 (DF-31) missiles are attached to the 80304 Unit of the Second Artillery Corps. The 80304 Unit is headquartered in Luoyang, Henan province. Its older CSS-4 missiles can strike targets throughout the United States and Europe.

The new Dong Feng 31 missile can be armed with a single H-bomb with a yield of over 3 million tons of TNT. A single DF-31 missile armed with the huge H-bomb could destroy any major U.S. city including Los Angeles, San Francisco or Seattle.

Recent Chinese tests have shown that the DF-31 can be armed with multiple warheads. The Chinese test-fired a DF-31 armed with three small dummy nuclear warheads. The smaller warheads are based on a stolen U.S. design. Each warhead has the destructive power of 100,000 tons of TNT, or five times the size of the Hiroshima bomb.

Unlike the older Chinese CSS-4 missiles, the DF-31 is a road mobile system, carried to pre-designated launching points by large trucks. The DF-31 is also a solid fuel rocket designed to be fired very quickly. These features make the DF-31 a very hard target to track or destroy.

China developed the DF-31 during the 1990s as a replacement for its older liquid-fueled CSS-4 missile. The Second Artillery Corps is expected to accept four or five battalions, each armed with 10 to 12 DF-31 missiles, by 2008.

Iran-China

The proliferation of Chinese missile technology in both Asia and the Middle East is a growing concern. The recent DF-31 deployment by China is mirrored by further missile developments by North Korea and Iran. Iran announced this week that it intends to upgrade and improve its Shahab-3 missile. The Shahab-3 is an identical copy of the North Korean No Dong missile.

"Iran does not have any plan to build a Shahab-4. Instead we are optimizing the Shahab-3," stated Hossein Dehqan, the deputy to Iranian Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani.

The long-range No Dong missile exported by North Korea to Iran was developed by Pyongyang with extensive assistance from Beijing.

Iran purchased the Shahab using North Korean technology and No Dong parts in order to construct its force of missiles. North Korean engineers are currently working inside Iran on both its missile force as well as assisting in the Iranian effort to acquire nuclear weapons.

The Shahab-3 is capable of carrying a one-metric-ton warhead over 800 miles. Tehran announced that the Shahab-3's main target is Israel. Six Shahab-3 missiles were put on display in September during a parade in Tehran celebrating the anniversary of the Iran-Iraq war. One of the missiles carried a banner declaring "We will wipe Israel off the map."

North Korea

The regional threat from Iran is mirrored in Asia by threats from North Korea and China. The North Korean military has recently deployed over 100 No Dong missiles. The No Dong is capable of striking targets in South Korea and Japan.

North Korea has also restarted development of its long-range Tae Po Dong missile that can reach Alaska and the western United States. It is estimated that North Korea may test a Tae Po Dong missile in the next year and may have as many as three missiles ready for firing.

Both South Korea and Japan have responded to the increase in North Korean missile capabilities. South Korea recently deployed U.S.-made tactical missiles close to the DMZ as a response to the continuing increase in Pyongyang's missile force.

Japan has also responded by orbiting its first military reconnaissance satellites. The second set of two imaging satellites was destroyed last month when a Japanese launch rocket failed in flight. The multibillion-dollar effort by Tokyo appears to have stalled for the moment, but U.S. sources expect Japan to seek further defenses in the face of threats from Beijing and Pyongyang.

Joint Defense

The U.S. is trying to form a joint missile defense with our Asian allies in Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Australia and the Philippines. China opposes any such effort, seeking to neutralize the U.S.-led effort with political treaties, threatening remarks and continuing proliferation of advanced missile technology to Iran and North Korea.

China was recently cited by the CIA as a leading exporter of advanced missile technology to Iran, Libya and Syria. The Bush administration announced sanctions against China over the summer because of illegal exports to Iran that violated treaties signed or agreed to by Beijing.

U.S.-led efforts to neutralize the growing missile threat recently received a boost from Australia. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer announced that Australia has signed on to President Bush's missile defense plans.

"We made the strategic decision to put in place a long-term measure to counter potential threats to Australia's security and its interests from ballistic missile proliferation," stated Downer.

Missile defense opponents claimed that a defense system would trigger a new arms race. Instead, the move toward a missile defense is an allied reaction to an ongoing race by rogue states to acquire long-range nuclear strike capabilities. The move by Australia underscores that the Bush administration missile defense plans are a reaction to growing missile proliferation and deployment in Asia.

U.S. Success – Chinese Failure

The U.S. anti-missile effort also received a technical shot in the arm when a Navy Standard SM-3 missile successfully intercepted an incoming missile warhead target. The Aegis cruiser USS Lake Erie fired the SM-3 interceptor in the Pacific test range near Kwajalein.

The recent Navy success follows a Chinese diplomatic failure near Kwajalein. The tiny nation of Kiribati, formerly known as Tarawa, recently announced it would open diplomatic ties with Taiwan.

Beijing foreign ministry spokesman Zhang Qiyue called the decision "an open betrayal" of Kiribati's diplomatic relations with communist China, and warned that there would be unspecified "serious consequences."

Kiribati currently is the location of a major Chinese satellite-monitoring station. The station at Kiribati is critical to the Chinese army missile and space program. For example, the Chinese station at Kiribati maintained communications with the manned Shenzhou 5 spacecraft.

However, U.S. intelligence and local Kiribati officials have accused China of using the station to spy on the U.S. missile-testing facility at Kwajalein.

Charles Smith will be on:

The Jeff Rense show, Talk Radio Network, on Wednesday, 12/17/03, at 10 p.m. Eastern time.

The American Freedom Network on Friday, 12/19/03, at 11 a.m. Eastern time. Show information at http://www.amerifree.com.

The Jerry Hughes show on Friday, 12/19/03, at 3 p.m. Eastern time. Show information at http://www.cilamerica.com.

The Phil Paleologos "American Breakfast" show on Tuesday, 12/23/03, the Langer Broadcast Network, at 8 a.m. Eastern time. Show information at www.dinershow.com.

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