Missile Proliferation in East Asia : Arms Control Vs . Tmd Responses

Dr. James Clay Moltz is Assistant Director and Research Professor at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies of the Monterey Institute of International Studies. He has published widely on Russian Far Eastern and East Asian security issues. The rise of theater ballistic missile capabilities in East Asia—particularly in China and North Korea—has raised fears among the United States, South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan that the post-Cold War era may be one of heightened vulnerability. As Director of the U.S. Department of Defense’s Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO) Lt. Gen. Lester Lyles has testified: “...the threat from foreign theater missiles has grown steadily as sophisticated missile technology becomes available on a wider scale.” North Korea’s Nodong series has been the most-cited threat, but the spring 1996 Taiwan Straits crisis—where China brazenly tested short-range Dong Feng (East Wind)-15 ballistic missiles in the seas around its island neighbor—has also raised the specter of possible Chinese use of offensive missiles.