China has made a conscious effort to prioritise stable relations with the US and Japan over its long-term concerns about BMD. Many Chinese analysts, backed by sober technological assessments of the prospects for BMD deployment, have concluded that time is on China's side. But this does not imply that China's opposition to missile defences has ceased to exist. Beijing remains wary of US and Japanese intentions, and believes that BMD is aimed at China's containment. The United States and Japan, as they implement long-term plans for missile defence, should be aware that the latent Chinese opposition will be an enduring factor.