China Drone Program 'Alarming,' Pentagon Says (VIDEO)

Will China Be As Secretive With Drones As The U.S.?

After the Obama administration's extensive use of the hotly debated drone program, other countries are following suit, particularly China.

A 2012 Department of Defense report refers to Chinese expansion of drones as "alarming." But Heather Roff, visiting associate professor at the University of Denver, told Huffpost Live's Ahmed Shihab-Eldin that the U.S. military really has no place to be be critical of other countries employing tactics it has used so frequently.

"Our entire stance towards targed killing and the use of drones in combat has been we do whatever we want and we justify it in different and sometimes very bizarre ways," Roff told HuffPost Live. "I don't think the United States would have very much wiggle room to tell China what it should and should not do in terms of international norms and regulations."

Over 70 countries today have some form of drone technology, and what China is doing is simply following suit.

"It would be very, very useful for China to have an enormous fleet of surveillance and armed drones," said David Wood, The Huffington Post's senior military correspondent. "What's pretty clear at this point is that the world is on a threshold of a huge revolution in weaponry. Drone technology is pretty simple, pretty cheap, and the varieties of ways you can apply it are really unlimited."

It seems the China has thus far refrained from using their drone technology for targeted killings. However, according to international human rights lawyer Jessica Corsi, China does have a history of selling weapons to others including countries like Pakistan, Iran, Zimbabwe and the Sudan, and has hinted at the possibility of selling their drones internationally.

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot