The Biden administration needs to begin engaging Beijing in talks to limit the threat of hypersonic weapons, especially following China's recent test of a hypersonic weapon launched from space, lead Republican on the US House Foreign Affairs Committee Michael McCaul said on Wednesday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th October, 2021) The Biden administration needs to begin engaging Beijing in talks to limit the threat of hypersonic weapons, especially following China's recent test of a hypersonic weapon launched from space, lead Republican on the US House Foreign Affairs Committee Michael McCaul said on Wednesday.
"Unlike Russia we have no treaties with China when it comes to hypersonics and even nuclear technology," McCaul told reporters. "It's extremely important that this administration engage in discussions now with the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) on these hypersonic missiles that are so dangerous to our national security and the world.
McCaul cited a report by House Republicans a year ago warning of China's edge over the United States in developing weapons that are difficult to detect because they fly at multiple times the speed of sound - a warning that he said was illustrated by China's test of a hypersonic weapon in August.
The weapon orbited the Earth and then launched a missile that came within 20 miles of the intended target.
"It's disturbing. It's a wakeup call. It's a Sputnik moment," McCaul said of the test. He was referring to the Soviet Union's 1957 launch of the Sputnik satellite, which triggered a space race between Moscow and Washington.
The United States needs to catch up with China in a new space race, he added.
