“Russia
is ready to sell China its state-of-the-art S-400 missile system.
Japan is worried by the prospect, fearing it could undermine its
security amid an ongoing territorial dispute surrounding the Senkaku
Islands, known as the Diaoyu Islands in China. Russia’s business
daily Vedomosti reported last November that Moscow was in the process
of selling S-400 anti-aircraft missiles to China.”
“Moscow,
however, had been reluctant to deliver the system to China. It was
concerned that Beijing would buy only a small number of the coveted
system with the intent of disassembling it and learning how to build
it.”
“Although
Moscow and Beijing have yet to officially announce the deal, it seems
almost certain that they have agreed on the sale, which Tokyo fears
may upset the subtle military balance in the East China Sea. If the
deal is finalized, China will become the first foreign country to buy
the S-400 missile system.”
“The
400-kilometer-range system will, for the first time, allow China to
strike any aerial target on the island of Taiwan, in addition to
reaching air targets as far as New Delhi, Calcutta, Hanoi and Seoul
and also closer to the disputed Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands
in the East China Sea. [...] It is possible that Vladimir Putin
authorized the sale of the S-400 to raise funds amid economic
grievances arising from Western sanctions.”
Previously:
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