The Wall Street Journal - 02.10.2019

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. **** Wednesday, October 2, 2019 |A

tem, the DF-41 has clearly been

designed and deployed with de-

terring the United States in

mind,” said Andrew Erickson, an

expert on the Chinese military

at the U.S. Naval War College.

“This system has long been

known, but had never been

seen,” said Ankit Panda, an ad-

junct senior fellow at the Fed-

eration of American Scientists.

GONGJI-11 STEALTH

COMBAT AERIAL DRONE

Also on display for the first

time was a stealthy combat

aerial drone called the

Gongji-11, or GJ-11, which Chi-

nese state media said was the

final version of an earlier

model known as Sharp Sword.

With a wing design similar

to that of an American B-

strategic bomber, the drone is

designed to sneak undetected

into enemy-controlled airspace

and to fire missiles at targets

beyond the reach of manned

combat aircraft.

It could greatly enhance

China’s aerial firepower in a

potential conflict over the

South China Sea, Taiwan or

points beyond. Some experts

said they expect it to be used

on China’s next generation of

aircraft carriers.

“This parade illustrates the

PLA’s embrace of unmanned

operations as critical elements

of future combat across all do-

mains of warfare,” said Elsa

Kania, a research fellow fo-

cused on Chinese military in-

novation at Georgetown Uni-

versity’s Center for Security

and Emerging Technology.

HSU001 UNDERWATER

DRONE

One highlight of the parade

that took many defense experts

by surprise was a pair of large

unmanned underwater vehi-

cles, or UUVs, that were dis-

played for the first time. They

had “HSU001” written on their

sides and appeared to be

mounted with a set of sensors.

That suggested that they

could be used to track foreign

naval vessels, either to protect

Chinese nuclear missile sub-

marines or to monitor other

countries’ naval operations

farther afield.

Some experts said they re-

sembled the Orca extra-large

UUV, which is being built for

the U.S. Navy by Boeing Co.

“The rolling out of this large

UUV is significant as only a

few major powers have man-

aged such programs,” said Col-

lin Koh, research fellow at the

S. Rajaratnam School of Inter-

national Studies in Singapore.

POMP AND POWER: China's Dongfeng-26 conventional and

nuclear missiles, top, were paraded in Beijing on Tuesday for the

70th anniversary of Communist rule. The Dongfeng-17 hypersonic

missile, right, made its public debut, and Beijing surprised

defense experts with a pair of underwater drones.

ZOYA RUSINOVA/TASS/ZUMA PRESS XINHUA/EPA/SHUTTERSTOCK

That allows it to evade current

missile-defense systems.

“China is now, in some

spheres of military technology,

ahead of any Western nation,”

said Sam Roggeveen, director

of the International Security

Program at the Lowy Institute

in Sydney.

He said it was likely de-

signed to be used in the Asia-

Pacific region as one of several

weapon systems meant to deter

the U.S. and its allies from en-

gaging China in conflict there.

The Pentagon has identified

hypersonic missiles and sys-

tems to defend against them as

among its highest priorities,

citing development of similar

technology by China and Rus-

sia. Lockheed Martin Corp. ex-

pects test flights of its first

prototype missiles next year.

DF-41 ICBM

The biggest piece of weap-

onry on display was the Dong-

feng-41, or DF-41, a road-mo-

bile intercontinental ballistic

missile, whose estimated

range of 7,500 miles allows it

to conduct a nuclear strike on

any part of the U.S.

It can carry multiple re-entry

vehicles, which are designed to

evade missile-defense systems.

“China’s most powerful and

advanced nuclear weapons sys-

WORLD NEWS

BEIJING—The sophisticated
Chinese weaponry paraded
past Tiananmen Square on
Tuesday, including a new hy-
personic missile and a stealth
combat drone, sent a clear
message to Washington: In
military terms, the U.S.’s tech-
nological advantage over
China is shrinking fast.
The display, marking the
70th anniversary of Communist
Party rule in China, highlighted
the People’s Liberation Army’s
growing emphasis on its mis-
sile force, as well as on un-
manned systems and electronic
warfare, defense experts said.
Although primarily designed
to show strength for a domes-
tic audience, it also demon-
strated how China is increas-
ingly developing and deploying
indigenous weaponry on a par
with, or in some cases more
advanced than, the U.S. and its
allies, those experts said.
While China still lags far be-
hind the U.S. in overall fire-
power and combat experience,
it now has a broad range of do-
mestically produced arms de-
signed to project Chinese power
far from its shores and to pre-
vent America and its allies from
intervening in a conflict in Asia.
Tuesday’s parade is likely to
intensify calls in the U.S. for
tighter controls on transfers to
China of technology or expertise
with any potential military use.
Here are some highlights:

DF-17 HYPERSONIC
MISSILE

Making its public debut, the
Dongfeng-17, is thought to be
China’s first operational mis-
sile mounted with a hyper-
sonic glide vehicle—capable of
flying at more than five times
the speed of sound—and the
first such weapon deployed
anywhere in the world, de-
fense experts said.
Once launched, the missile is
designed to release a hyper-
sonic glide vehicle that can
cruise at relatively low altitude
and speeds above Mach 5, or
about 3,400 miles an hour,
changing direction if needed.

BYJEREMYPAGE

China Narrows Weaponry Gap With U.S.

LAN HONGGUANG/XINHUA/ZUMA PRESS

ating table.

On Tuesday, state media

quoted First Vice Minister of

Foreign Affairs Choe Son Hui

as saying North Korea and the

U.S. plan a preliminary meet-

ing on Friday followed by offi-

cial talks the next day.

Ms. Choe is one of leader

Kim Jong Un’s most prominent

interlocutors with the U.S. The

state-media report didn’t

specify where the negotiations

would take place. The State

Department confirmed the

meeting without providing de-

tails.

Nuclear talks have remained

gridlocked since the two sides

failed to strike a deal eight

months ago in Hanoi. The

breakdown revealed deep di-

vides over how, and when, the

regime would relinquish its nu-

clear program in return for

sanctions relief.

Pyongyang’s most recent

launch is “a statement that it is

not being pressured into talks

but intends to negotiate from a

position of strength,” said Leif-

Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha

University in Seoul.

One of the missiles traveled

about 280 miles and soared to

an altitude of 565 miles, the

South Korean military said. The

missile flew much higher than

any of Pyongyang’s other tests

this year, suggesting it was a

new type of weapon.

—Timothy W. Martin

and Alastair Gale

contributed to this article.

SEOUL—North Korea said it
would resume working-level
talks with the U.S. on Saturday,
reviving a denuclearization
process that has been stalled
since a February summit in
Vietnam ended without a deal.
Hours later, the North fired
two ballistic missiles off the
country’s east coast on
Wednesday morning, Japanese
officials said.
The weapons launch was
North Korea’s ninth since July

25. It last test-fired a weapon
    about three weeks ago—a
    launch that came hours after
    Pyongyang signaled it was will-
    ing to come back to the negoti-

BYANDREWJEONG
ANDDASLYOON

North Korea Fires Missiles

After Agreeing to U.S. Talks

gotten back to its level before

the previous tax increase in

April 2014, when the tax rose

to 8% from 5%. “The tax in-

crease clearly kept destroying

the Japanese economy,” said

Taro Yamamoto, leader of a

small opposition party that ad-

vocates eliminating the tax.

Aware of the risk, Mr. Abe’s

government is returning more

than half of the money raised

by the latest tax increase to the

public through new benefits in-

cluding free preschool and

point rewards for purchases

made with credit cards, smart-

phone apps or other cashless

methods.

The government is also

ready to rush an extra budget

through parliament with more

spending in case the economy

slips.

Economic revitalization min-

ister Yasutoshi Nishimura said

Monday that he wouldn’t wait

for quarterly data to act be-

cause it might be too late. “We

will try to catch the direction

or get a sign by analyzing daily

and weekly indicators,” he said.

Initial signs suggested the

economy could be in for at

least a partial repeat of 2014,

when consumers rushed to buy

before the tax increase and

then held back afterward.

At electronics retailer Bic

Camera Inc., sales of refrigera-

tors, washing machines and air

conditioners in September

were double last year’s level, a

spokesman said.

Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan

Stanley Securities expects the

economy to shrink an annual-

ized 3.2% in the October-De-

cember period because of weak

private consumption.

Still, the impact this time

may not be as bad as 2014 be-

cause many retailers are swal-

lowing the increase them-

selves, which will slightly dent

corporate profits but spare the

consumer.

“Japanese companies have

shifted their stance back to low

prices after price increases

seen in 2014 and 2015 caused

sharp drops in sales,” said Na-

omi Muguruma, a Mitsubishi

UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities

economist.

TOKYO—Japan raised its na-
tional sales tax for the first
time in more than five years on
Tuesday, putting the world’s
third-largest economy and its
cautious consumers to the test.
After postponing it twice,
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s
government went ahead with
raising the tax to 10% from 8%.
Mr. Abe said the government
needed more money to support
a fast-aging population.
“This will be a big step to-
ward building a social security
system to benefit all genera-
tions,” he said. “We will keep a
close eye on the impact of the
increase and take all possible
measures.”
Critics including populist
lawmakers on the left and
some right-wing economists
sympathetic to Mr. Abe called
the tax increase unnecessary
because the government has no
problem borrowing money,
even though its outstanding
debt is double the size of the
economy.
The 10-year government
bond currently has a yield of
minus 0.16%, meaning investors
have to pay for the privilege of
lending Japan their money.
Consumption has only now

BYMEGUMIFUJIKAWA

New Japan Tax Hike Tests Economy

10%

New national sales levy, up

from 8%, and 5% before 2014

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