Posted on 01/19/2007 6:05:32 AM PST by Rb ver. 2.0
Britain has joined the US, Japan and Australia's condemnation of China after the communist country destroyed a satellite in space using a ballistic missile.
The British embassy in Beijing said it had raised the test, the first of its kind for 20 years, with the Chinese foreign ministry noting that the Government believed it was “inconsistent” with China’s opposition to the development of space weapons.
A spokesman refused to elaborate on the form the protest took or on the Chinese government’s response.
Later, a Downing Street spokesman said: "We are concerned about the impact of debris in space and we expressed that concern.
"We don't believe that this does contravene international law
"What we are concerned about however is lack of consultation and we believe that this development of this technology and the manner in which this test was conducted is inconsistent with the spirit of China's statements to the UN and other bodies on the military use of space."
The Chinese authorities have not confirmed a US report that it blew up one of its own aged weather satellites last Thursday with a ballistic missile fired from the Xichang space centre in Sichuan province.
There is stony silence on the subject in the Chinese media today as concern grows in the US and in the region about the prospect of an arms race in space.
If the test is confirmed, China will become the third country after the United States and the former Soviet Union to shoot down an object in space, indicating the Asian power could target satellites operated by other nations.
The United States, Japan, Australia and a host of other countries voiced concern on Friday .
Japan’s chief cabinet secretary, Yasuhisa Shiozaki, said his government had asked China for confirmation, and for an explanation of what its intentions were.
“We are concerned about it firstly from the point of view of peaceful use of space, and secondly from the safety perspective,” Mr Shiozaki said.
Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for the American National Security Council, said the US “believes China’s development and testing of such weapons is inconsistent with the spirit of co-operation that both countries aspire to in the civil space area”.
Alexander Downer, Australia's foreign minister, said his country did not want to see “some sort of spread, if you like, of an arms race into outer space”.
Taro Aso, the Japanese foreign minister, said the Chinese had sought to reassure Japan its intentions in space were of no threat to anyone.
“China consistently uses space only for peaceful purposes,” Mr Aso quoted the Chinese foreign ministry as saying.
The comments fit with the ruling Communist Party’s mantra in recent years that the nation’s rise as a world superpower should not be feared.
China joined the exclusive club of top space nations in 2003 when it sent up its first manned mission, joining the United States and Russia.
China spends 500 million dollars a year on its space programmes, according to official figures, while NASA’s proposed budget for 2007 is nearly 17 billion dollars.
But the United States has consistently deflected Chinese advances for closer cooperation on the two nations’ space programmes because of concerns about the involvement of China’s military.
A Chinese government defence paper released last month said that its defence expenditure had grown by more than 15 percent every year since 1990.
Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
I was waiting for someone to take this seriously on this thread.
If China can take out our satelites they can distroy our GPS sytems, our air defense and our cell phone capability.
This, IMO, is a big thing.
Was this recently? Didn't some areas of the US observe and film a satellite "breaking up" through the atmosphere a week or two ago? Related?
"Chinese missile destroys satellite in spa"
General Dong must have been very jealous of a cheating girlfriend.
Does our Star wars system intercept the missles before they reach where our satellites are orbiting? If so, then our system is ok. If the system only hits missles upon re-entry, then we are in trouble. Also, will our system be able to hit cruise missles that can alter course and hug the terrain?
Wow! That spa looks just like space!
If it's on my back deck, is it "outer spa"? Just how big of a satellite can fit in a spa anyway?
Someday, the entire story of the Clinton corruption will be published, probably with an advance piece in the Atlantic.
I don't think the PRC signed a treaty not to use space for warfare. It is tough for the US to test an ASAT weapon successsfully and then agree to not use space for warfare. In the eyes of the rest of the world we look like hypocrites to complain. IMHO this is a nonissue pertaining to international law, however it is important that we now know that China is capable of anti satellite (ASAT) warfare and we need to adjust our warfighting doctrine accordingly.
So people remember.
That was the re-entry of a Russian booster rocket that had launched a french satellite.
We live in scary times.
> Just how big of a satellite can fit in a spa anyway? <
Easy: Small sat, big spa.
....meanwhile, back in the United States, the democrats continue to oppose the war on terror and call President Bush incompetent.....
This is an utterly stupid policy. Blowing up the satellite will create more space debris which could damage other satellites and future space shuttle missions. These old satellites are better off left intact and allowed to plunge back to earth where they will be consumed in the atmosphere. I am surprised that such a stupid act was committed.Someone call Al Gore Immediately
That's good. Satellites don't belong in spas.
This is a big deal to our Missle Defense forces.
ping
The Chinese are not trying to clear out old satellites just as Iran is not developing nuclear capabilities as an alternate energy source. They are testing a missile system and sending a message to the U.S., Japan and anybody else that is listening. They blew up their own old satellite because to blow up anybody else's old satellite at this point in time would not be good for international relations.
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