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.
F-35As from the Vermont Air National Guard have deployed to Puerto Rico in recent days, continuing a major buildup of U.S. Air Force assets in Latin America aimed at combating drug trafficking and pressuring the regime of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.
