You fire it once and your enemy retaliates with MAD, completely destroying geosynchronous orbit with debris.
I was thinking about this specific project's geopolitical implications more from a perspective of "how will the paranoiacs in the US upper echelons react?" I agree that it's supremely unlikely that the Chinese government would actually weaponize it. But the American establishment would freak out at the possibility, due to projection. They've had dreams of orbiting energy weapons for as long as they've had spaceflight, often in the form of solar collectors powering microwave transmitters.
I was thinking about this specific project's geopolitical implications more from a perspective of "how will the paranoiacs in the US upper echelons react?" I agree that it's supremely unlikely that the Chinese government would actually weaponize it. But the American establishment would freak out at the possibility, due to projection. They've had dreams of orbiting energy weapons for as long as they've had spaceflight, often in the form of solar collectors powering microwave transmitters.