Trump’s treaty pullout could irritate Beijing

US at a disadvantage by China’s development of sophisticated landbased missile forces

AUS withdrawal from a Cold War-era nuclear arms treaty with Russia could give the Pentagon new options to counter Chinese missile advances but experts warn the ensuing arms race could greatly escalate tensions in the Asia-Pacific.

US officials have been warning for years that the United States was being put at a disadvantage by China’s development of increasingly sophisticated landbased missile forces, which the Pentagon could not match thanks to the US treaty with Russia.

President Donald Trump has signalled he may soon give the Pentagon a freer hand to confront those advances, if he makes good on threats to pull out of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which required elimination of short- and intermediaterange nuclear and conventional missiles.

Dan Blumenthal, a former Pentagon official now at the American Enterprise Institute, said a treaty pullout could pave the way for the United States to field easier-to-hide, road-mobile conventional missiles in places such as Guam and Japan.

That would make it harder for China to consider a conventional first strike against US ships and bases in the region. It could also force Beijing into a costly arms race, forcing China to spend more on missile defences.

“It will change the picture fundamentally,” Blumenthal said.