The US is the greatest threat to space security and the most-likely instigator of a space arms race, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Zhang Xiaogang has said.
According to the ministry’s website, Zhang was responding to recent “irresponsible” statements by the commander of the United States Space Command, General Stephen N. Whiting. The US general earlier accused China of developing a space arsenal and threatened to deploy anti-satellite weapons targeting Russia and China in 2025.
“The US has been using the so-called ‘China threat in space’ as a pretext to deploy anti-satellite weapons,” Zhang told a press briefing on Friday. “It is a pure distortion of facts,” he added.
The spokesman pointed out that the US defines space as a “war-fighting domain” as it continues to expand its space forces and form military alliances.
The continued militarization of space poses grave threats to the common security and development interests of all countries, Zhang warned.
Last month, Bloomberg cited the US Space Force as saying that the first five of a planned 32 weapons intended to jam Chinese and Russian satellites in the early stage of a possible conflict could be declared operational between January and March 2025. The Counter Communications System, known as Meadowlands, is reportedly more than two years behind schedule.
Technological weaponry of this type is intended to cause temporary damage in a conflict “to counter the growing number of Chinese and Russian space systems,” the news agency noted.
The Pentagon has accused China of amassing anti-satellite weapons, voicing concerns about the country’s alleged focus on space-war capabilities. The Chinese government has denied the accusations, stressing it is Washington whose militarization of space threatens global security.
The US has voiced similar allegations against Russia on multiple occasions, suggesting that Moscow has undisclosed anti-satellite capabilities that are possibly nuclear in nature. The Kremlin has dismissed the insinuations as unfounded, saying that they are merely a smokescreen intended to distract from Washington’s own military activities in space.
Both Moscow and Beijing have repeatedly said they are against an arms race in space, and have advocated for preserving space for peaceful purposes.