Beijing: US, Japan policy of ‘fabricating China space threat’ aimed at space militarization
The Chinese government has accused the US and Japan of “fabricating” China's space threat, saying it is aimed at advancing their own space army expansion.
“The US and Japan have turned a blind eye to the facts, fabricated and hyped up the so called ‘space threat’ by China," China’s Ministry of National Defense spokesman Tan Kefei said in a press conference in Beijing on Thursday.
"It is just an excuse for their own space army expansion and predominance in space. China firmly opposes such moves.”
The ministry accused the US of promoting “space militarization with a Cold War mentality”.
“The US has openly defined space as a ‘combat domain’, established a Space Command, a space force, vigorously developed and deployed directed energy and ‘anti-satellite communication systems’ and other offensive space weapons, and frequently held military exercises such as ‘Schriever’, ‘Global Sentinel’ and Space Flag,” the spokesman said.
According to Kefei, the US government has launched all kinds of satellites, including military reconnaissance satellites, besides purchasing billions of US dollars worth of commercial satellite services “for military use.”
The US has categorically disavowed the draft treaty on the “Prevention of the Placement of Weapons in Outer Space, the Threat or Use of Force against Outer Space Objects” which was proposed by China and Russia, Kefei said.
He said Japan is also speeding up its military construction in space and setting up a “space combat force”.
These moves by the US and Japan raised the risk of “weaponization and arms race in outer space and negatively affected global strategic stability”, Kefei said.
Back in 2019, former US president Donald Trump directed the Pentagon to establish the Space Force – the first new US military branch in 72 years – calling for his country’s “dominance in space.”
Trump had accused both China and Russia of seeking to militarize space, saying that Washington had to "beat out its rivals out there."
Russia, for its part, has expressed concern about the growing militarization of space by the United States and its allies, warning that such hostile measures should be counterbalanced.
Moscow has warned that the implementation of US military plans in space could trigger a new era of arms race in the outer space of the earth.
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