China's anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBP), known as the "carrier killer," is close to operational, said the commander of the US Pacific Command, Admiral Robert Willard, in Tokyo recently. While US aircraft carriers appear more active in China's offshore waters, concern over China's ASBP is rising in the West.
China has never pursued a policy of confrontation with other world powers, including the US. However, it does need a strategic deterrence. In a bid to protect its own strategic interests, China should not only build its anti-ship missile capacity, but also possess a range of other carrier-destroying measures as well.
For quite some time the intelligence agencies in the US and other Western countries have conjectured over China's anti-ship missile capacity. China ought to convince the international community of its reliable carrier-killing capacity as soon as possible to end the speculation. Such capacity is necessary for an emerging power, and it is necessary infrastructure for China's military modernization.
Since US aircraft carrier battle groups in the Pacific constitute deterrence against China's strategic interests, China has to possess the capacity to counterbalance.
Such capacity could inhibit US thoughts of keeping China in check through aircraft carriers, and therefore greatly reduce the possibility of confrontation between the People's Liberation Army and US military forces in the Western Pacific.
While developing its anti-ship missile capacity, China should also let Westerners know under what circumstances will such weaponry be used.