Billingslea Vows U.S. Will Station Missiles Aimed at China in Western Pacific

Aug. 18, 2020 (EIRNS)—Special Presidential Envoy for Arms Control Marshall Billingslea, in an Aug. 15 interview with Nikkei Asia Review, clearly stated that the U.S. intends to deploy medium- range missiles in the Western Pacific aimed at China. He said Washington wants to “engage in talks with our friends and allies in Asia over the immediate threat that the Chinese nuclear buildup poses, not just to the United States but to them, and the kinds of capabilities that we will need to defend the alliance in the future.”

In particular, Billingslea pointed to a mid-range, non-nuclear, ground-launched cruise missile under development in the U.S. Work on this missile began in August 2019 shortly after the U.S. withdrawal from the INF Treaty was complete. This weapon is “exactly the kind of defensive capability that countries such as Japan will want and will need for the future,” Billingslea said. The new missile, Nikkei reports, is believed to have a range of 1,000 km. Nikkei states that this is not even long enough to reach China from Guam, meaning that it would have to be deployed on the territory of countries closer to China.