On May 20th, US President Trump announced to the media his selection of the “Golden Dome” missile defense system plan. This system is composed of hundreds of satellites and missile detection and tracking devices. Media reports suggest that the purpose of this system is to counter the threats posed by China and Russia. The Chinese Foreign Ministry criticized the “Golden Dome” plan on the following day, labeling it as having a “strong offensive color” and expressing serious concerns.
Defense strategy experts believe that the development of “Golden Dome” by the United States is aimed at establishing comprehensive defense capabilities, including space, to detect and intercept rapidly advancing hypersonic missiles from China and Russia. China fears the US developing “Golden Dome” as it lacks the capacity to keep up with the US’s development of space military capabilities, which could potentially accelerate economic collapse, leading to a distorted interpretation of “Golden Dome”.
Trump recently stated to the media that the US has officially selected the “Golden Dome” advanced missile defense system plan with a total budget of $175 billion. It is set to be fully operational by January 2029 before the end of his term. Trump also revealed that Canada will join this missile defense program.
Regarding the US’s official announcement of this advanced space defense program, the Chinese Foreign Ministry held a routine press conference on Wednesday, May 21st, where spokesperson Mao Ning described the Golden Dome plan as having a “strong offensive color,” causing China to express “serious concerns”.
Is “Golden Dome” truly offensive? Taiwan’s defense strategy and resources expert Su Ziyun told Dajiyuan that this is a distorted explanation from Beijing, a speculative extension suggesting that if the US’s defense capabilities strengthen, then from Beijing’s perspective, the US might take aggressive actions.
“Because Beijing’s missiles cannot reach the US, they believe that the US might choose to strike Beijing preemptively. This is a case of suspecting others’ ill intentions. Democratic countries do not usually resort to using strategic nuclear weapons first. This is consistent with China’s consistent attitude and claims about Taiwan, with Beijing always having its own distorted explanations regardless of others’ actions.”
Beijing criticizes Trump’s “Golden Dome” plan for exacerbating the militarization of outer space and the arms race risk. Moscow has likened the “Golden Dome” plan to the “Star Wars” defense program pushed by Reagan during the Cold War era.
In light of this, former dean of the Political Warfare College, Yuzong Ji, told Dajiyuan that Beijing is actually fearful of “Golden Dome” as it would put China in a dilemma.
“First, if China wants to counter the US’s ‘Golden Dome’ space combat defense plan, it would have to invest a vast amount of defense budget, severely squeezing its current substantial investments in warships and warplanes. China currently lacks the additional huge budget to cope with the US’s space combat plan.
“Second, if China were to follow suit, it could trigger accelerated economic collapse, even leading to a collapse like the Soviet Union during the Reagan era.”
Yuzong Ji stated that China knows that countering the US’s plan would come at a cost and it lacks the economic capability to oppose it. Therefore, China is aligning with Russia to oppose the US’s “Golden Dome” plan. In reality, the US is well aware of the significant threats posed by China and Russia, and by deploying “Golden Dome”, it renders all their potential weapons aimed at attacking the US completely ineffective, enabling the US to dominate in matters of war and peace.
Trump stated that the “Golden Dome” system will be deployed on land, at sea, and in space, integrating “next-generation technology,” including space sensors and laser interception devices, to detect, track, and destroy ballistic and hypersonic missiles. Trump has appointed US Space Force General Michael Guetlein to lead the project, overseeing all designs and technical planning.
According to a BBC report, the design of Golden Dome was inspired by Israel’s “Iron Dome” missile defense system. However, the US version will be larger in scale and have broader functions to address various threats, including hypersonic weapons and “Fractional Orbital Bombardment System” (FOBS) with the capability of launching warheads from space. The concept includes space missiles launched from orbit to intercept conventional and nuclear missiles launched from Earth.
“Iron Dome” was originally the Israeli air defense system used to intercept missiles, rocket projectiles, and drones. Since its activation in 2011, it has successfully intercepted thousands of rocket projectiles with an interception rate of around 90%.
The “Golden Dome” project is primarily aimed at defending against the increasing conventional and nuclear missile arsenals of US adversaries such as Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran. It also marks the revival of former US President Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), also known as the “Star Wars program,” from the Cold War era.
In the 1980s, Reagan proposed the “Star Wars program” to establish a missile defense system in space to protect the US from missile attacks by countries like the Soviet Union. However, due to high technical difficulty and costs, among other reasons, the project was ultimately not realized.
In 2024, senior US intelligence analyst pointed out in Congress that China currently claims to have the world’s largest hypersonic missile arsenal, with missiles capable of carrying both nuclear and conventional warheads; senior defense officials testified in the House Armed Services Committee that Russia has deployed three types of hypersonic weapons, equipped with both nuclear and conventional warheads.
Thus, the US Department of Defense is actively advancing hypersonic missile defense system development to counter the threats posed by hypersonic weapons from China, Russia, and other countries. In March 2025, the US Missile Defense Agency and Navy successfully tested the Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS), demonstrating detection, tracking, and simulated combat capabilities against hypersonic targets, marking technological advancements.
Regarding this, Yuzong Ji explains that it is widely known that China and Russia are rapidly developing hypersonic missiles continuously. Even North Korea’s missile capabilities can pose a threat to US homeland security. Due to their high speeds, traditional defense systems like the THAAD and Patriot systems find it hard to intercept them. “Golden Dome” aims to address threats from China, Russia, and even North Korea.
Yuzong Ji further elaborates that the existing US missile defense systems are among the most advanced and comprehensive globally. For example, the Patriot system is used in the mid-range airspace, the THAAD system in high altitude, and the Iron Dome system for low altitude, with the only lacking aspect being space.
Su Ziyun believes that the Golden Dome system needs to address two problems simultaneously: the increase in intercontinental missile nuclear warheads and changes in the trajectories of flying objects. Currently, the US’s radar systems for air defense mainly target intercontinental missiles flying parabolically, while new detection radars are required for hypersonic weapons flying horizontally at high speed within the atmosphere, presenting a new challenge in missile defense.
“If you can see it, you must be able to hit it, with full coverage in high, medium, and low layers. If the first layer misses, there is a middle layer to compensate, and if the middle layer fails, there is a low altitude layer to pick up. If interception fails, the THAAD and Patriot missile defense systems can be interconnected through tracking systems for layered interception, thus necessitating the construction of a comprehensive multi-layered air defense system.” Su Ziyun said.