U.S. Relations With the People's Republic of China (2007)

U.S. Department of Defense
Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)

News Transcript

Presenter: Commander, NORAD, NORTHCOM Gen. Gene Renuart Jr. and Director of Missile Defense Program at the Missile Defense Agency Lt. Gen. Henry Obering

October 02, 2007

DoD News Briefing with Gen. Renuart and Lt. Gen. Obering from the Pentagon, Arlington, Va.

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Q: Sir, you haven't mentioned China at all, and I wondered how -- in your thinking and planning for future threats, how you evaluate the Chinese capability and what measures you would need, then, to step up even what is being done to defend against a threat from North Korea and Iran?

GEN. OBERING: Well, as I said, you know, we're fielding capabilities to counter a nation like North Korea or Iran. We're not fielding capability to counter the Chinese.

However, the Chinese do have a very active development program, missile development program. So we have to maintain cognizance of that program.

There are things that we can -- there are steps that we're taking in our development program that could be used, but we have no intention to field those unless we need to do that. And so we are clearly focused on North Korea and Iran, because we think that is the near and real-term threats.

Yes, sir?

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