Xinhua reported that China had conducted a “test on ground-based midcourse missile interception technology.” The report added that the test achieved its “expected objective” and that it was “defensive in nature.” The test came a few days after the US approval to sell air defence missiles worth $6.5 billion to Taiwan.1

• 1. ‘China conducts test on ground-based midcourse missile interception’, Xinhua, January 11, 2010 at http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2010-01/11/content_12792329.htm; ‘US approves Taiwan missile sales’, BBC News, January 7, 2010 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8445408.stm