U.S. security interests also dictate that the United States
consider Chinese reactions to its missile defense plans.
Although not a party to the ABM Treaty, China bases its nuclear
planning in part on the treaty and has historically been
concerned about U.S. and Soviet missile defense programs. China
is believed to have several hundred nuclear weapons but perhaps
only about two dozen are able to reach the United States. Even a
limited national missile defense system, therefore, could
undermine or negate the Chinese deterrent. China has expressed
concern about high-altitude theater defenses too. Sha Zukang,
China’s ambassador to the Conference on Disarmament, noted in a
statement to the U.N. General Assembly last October that such
systems will “possess the capability to intercept strategic
missiles” and that their development thus would dampen China’s
“enthusiasm to participate in the global process of arms control
and disarmament.” Moreover, U.S. deployment of high-altitude
theater defenses would open the doo