China warns against space ‘battlefield’ after US says weapons deployed

The U.S. statement did not provide concrete details about the types or number of weapons deployed in space.(AFP) — China warned Tuesday against turning outer space into a “battlefield,” and Russia said it must be kept “free of any weapons” after the United States confirmed for the first time that it has weapons deployed in orbit around Earth.Analysts said Washington’s revelation confirmed an open secret, but the timing of the announcement risked exacerbating tensions with Beijing and fueling an arms race in space.The announcement marked a new stage in the major powers’ pursuit of military space capabilities, driven by rapid technological advances but lacking a comprehensive legal framework.“The U.S. has on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending the Joint Force against hostile adversary action,” a U.S. Space Force spokesperson said in a statement that did not provide details about the weapons.China’s Foreign Ministry opposed the move, warning against the “weaponization of outer space, turning it into a battlefield, as well as an arms race there.”“We urge the U.S. side to stop expanding its military capabilities and preparing for war in outer space,” ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a news briefing.Russia called Tuesday for space to be kept “free of any weapons.”“We are counting on broad international consolidation to continue working toward the complete demilitarization of space,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.What are the U.S. capabilities?The U.S. statement did not provide concrete details about the types or number of weapons deployed in space.“Space control encapsulates the mission areas required to contest and control the space domain — employing kinetic and nonkinetic means to affect adversary capabilities,” the statement said.“These capabilities can be employed for offensive and defensive purposes,” it added.Nonkinetic methods could include lasers that blind satellites or electromagnetic or cyber interference with their data links.Why does the U.S. want weapons in space?For Washington, Russia and China — its two main geopolitical rivals — pose potential threats to U.S. interests in space.China “develops and operates space and counterspace capabilities as part of a military modernization strategy,” according to the U.S. Space Force.Russia, meanwhile, “views space as a warfighting domain and believes space supremacy will be a decisive factor in future conflicts,” it said.The militarization of space is as old as the space race itself. After the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first artificial satellite in space, in 1957, Washington and Moscow began exploring ways to arm and destroy satellites.India said in March 2019 that it had destroyed a satellite in low Earth orbit, following Russia, China and the U.S. in conducting a missile test that demonstrated the country was among the world’s most advanced space powers.How might China react?Song Zhongping, an independent military commentator based in Hong Kong and a former Chinese army instructor, told AFP the announcement was “no surprise at all” because it has “long been an open secret” that the U.S. possesses such weapons.“The only difference is that the U.S. used to keep it ambiguous, whereas now it has gone public, which shows that Washington is no longer trying to hide it,” he added.“China will not stand by and do nothing,” he warned, noting that Beijing already has its own space station in orbit.“Whether China deploys weapons in space will depend entirely on whether the United States moves in that direction,” he said.The Wall Street Journal reported that Beijing supplied Iran with satellite imagery that enabled Tehran to precisely target military facilities and kill U.S. service members in Jordan in July — a claim China has denied.Can weapons in outer space be regulated?The greatest concern was once nuclear weapons in space, but the superpowers and other countries signed the Outer Space Treaty in 1967, banning weapons of mass destruction in orbit.Since then, Russia, the United States, China and India have explored ways to fight in space that fall outside the treaty, including targeting rivals’ satellites, which are crucial for military communications, surveillance and navigation.“There is a regulatory vacuum because Article 4 of the 1967 treaty only forbids weapons of mass destruction and nuclear weapons in orbit,” space law expert Laetitia Cesari said.She said the topic would likely be on the agenda at the next U.N. disarmament meeting in November.“Moscow and Beijing have been wanting to work for about 20 years on a treaty to prevent the placement of weapons in space,” while “Western states are trying instead to work on the notion of responsible behavior,” Cesari said.The U.S. announcement “will likely give impetus to the restrictive approach that Moscow and Beijing are pushing for,” she added.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads