>>>I see the Chinese have succesfully destroyed a satellite in orbit with a missile. I wonder why they are developing that capability.
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>>>Could this be the start of a new space arms race.
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>>I think it's comparatively primitive stuff. The U.S apparently developed this capability back in the '80s.
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>Yes I am aware of that but its a sign of where the Chinese seem to be headed and an indication of the huge amount of effort that they are pouring into military development. If they have solved the problem of having a successful centrally controlled economy giving them access to huge amounts of money to spend on this stiff then thats a real problem.

Hmmmm, no one seems to have a problem with the U.S. having all that power and others being miniscule by comparison, so why is it a problem if China is developing fancy weapons and building up it's armaments?

I believe China's record of aggression - with over 6,000 years under its belt - is as good or better than the U.S., Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Spain, Portugal, etc.

Blowing up satellites seems very defensive to me. Knowing how reliant the world's only superpower is on them, it seems to make sense that they should be worried and try to do something about it.
Secretary Rumsfeld, 2 or so years ago, expressed publicly great concern that China was building up arms. Why?... So that the U.S. would remain the only superpower. I have no doubt that Runsfeld's musings were a catalyst for even more buildup, given Iraq and talk of Iran and North Korea.

Is it a problem because they may have found the secret to a command economy, thus blighting capitalism? If so, I doubt that any sane 'free' person would relish the life of a Chinese labourer/factory worker or farmer. Of 1.2 billion people China has only 68 million Communist Party members, and that's deliberate to keep the riches within a small group. 68 million - all of them well-to-do or rich - is quite a market for any country/corporation.

I just don't see the "problem" here - unless I'm involved in the military/industrial complex that runs most of the free world. And then it's another opportunity, and a seemingly more tangible one than the fictitious scenarios they have to concoct now to keep their businesses going.