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Did 'naive engineers' spur China's anti-satellite test? -- New Scientist -- May 7, 2008
China tested an anti-satellite weapon in 2007 simply because it was ready to test after 20 years of development -- and not as a deliberate provocation, an expert on Chinese space policy said at a US Senate hearing on Wednesday. [ Quotes (2) ] [ Comments (0) ]
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China's ASAT Program took 20 years to Develop
 
"I think the one that's increasingly gaining credibility is in fact that during the 1980s, when the US had an active ASAT programme, the Chinese started one as well – it was a technology development programme that took basically 20 years to reach fruition," she said.

The test was naively approved by a leadership that simply did not understand that it would cause international outrage, she suggested. "The engineers who [were] in charge of that technology development programme put it forward as, 'It's time to test'," she said. "I think they severely underestimated international response. I think they now regret underestimating that response."

China had carried out previous "non-impact" ASAT tests that stopped short of actually hitting a satellite in orbit. Perhaps the lack of international condemnation of these earlier tests lulled China's leadership into thinking it could also carry out the impact test with little outrage, Johnson-Freese said.

But other experts doubt that the "naive engineers" theory can completely explain the test, arguing that the demonstration was part of a larger military development programme.
"Did 'naive engineers' spur China's anti-satellite test?." New Scientist. May 7, 2008.
China Naively Assumed ASAT Test would not be Viewed as Provocative
 
China tested an anti-satellite weapon in 2007 simply because it was ready to test after 20 years of development – and not as a deliberate provocation, an expert on Chinese space policy said at a US Senate hearing on Wednesday.

China blasted one of its own satellites to bits with a missile in January 2007, creating thousands of pieces of space debris that could slam into other satellites. The act sparked international outrage and prompted speculation about China's motivation for the anti-satellite (ASAT) test.

For several years prior to the test, China had been pushing for an international ban on weapons in space, a move the US had been resisting. Some observers suggested the test was meant to persuade the US to reconsider.

But an expert on China's space programme said on Wednesday that analysts are now leaning towards the view that the engineers running China's ASAT programme simply wanted to verify that the technology worked, and that Chinese decision makers naively failed to anticipate the international outrage that the test provoked.
"Did 'naive engineers' spur China's anti-satellite test?." New Scientist. May 7, 2008.