The announcement of the successful test, made by the state news agency Xinhua, comes after a week of diplomatic tensions over a US decision to sell advanced Patriot anti-missile systems to neighbouring Taiwan. "China conducted a test on ground-based midcourse missile interception technology within its territory. The test has achieved the expected objective," said the terse, three-sentence statement by Xinhua. "The test is defensive in nature and is not targeted at any country," it added. The decision to make the test public, itself unusual, comes after several days of strident complaints from China's defence establishment over the US decision to...