The Chinese government issued a white paper Thursday that was highly critical of efforts to build a regional missile defense system in Asia and voiced opposition to US efforts to provide Taiwan such capability. The paper maintained that development and deployment of missile defense systems are “by no means an effective way to solve the problem” of ballistic missile proliferation. Such a move would, stated the paper, “produce [a] negative impact on global strategic stability” and, further, would “erode trust among big powers.” China wants more “transparency” in the missile defense programs of “relevant countries”—read that as the US and Japan.
The advanced F-47 sixth-generation fighter remains on track to fly in the next two years, the senior Air Force acquisition officer overseeing the program said Feb. 25, as the service continues on its ambitious schedule to debut the air superiority-focused fighter by 2028—only three years after the contract was awarded…