Chinese Satellite Missile Test Not Meant as Threat, U.S. Says
By Ed Johnson and Judy Mathewson
Jan. 23 (Bloomberg) -- The Chinese government assured the U.S. that the test firing of a missile into space to destroy one of its own orbiting weather satellites was ``not meant as a threat,'' the State Department said.
Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill raised the issue with Chinese Foreign Ministry officials during a weekend visit to Beijing, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters in Washington.
Hill was told the Jan. 11 test was ``not meant as a threat against anybody and it's not meant to spark a race to militarize space,'' said McCormack, who urged China to be more ``transparent'' about its space program.
The U.S., U.K. and Australia raised concerns with China following the test and said debris from the destroyed satellite could be dangerous to other space installations. Japan called on the government in Beijing to explain its actions.
``We would encourage greater transparency as to exactly the specifics of this test, the intent behind it,'' said McCormack yesterday, according to a transcript. ``It has been a continuing topic for us as well as others in the region to encourage the Chinese to become more transparent in terms of their military spending and their military programs.''
U.S. officials have expressed concern that other countries may be acquiring capabilities to attack civilian and military space systems.
Hostile Acts
President George W. Bush signed a policy paper in October that asserts a U.S. right to use force against any countries or groups whose hostile acts disrupt American satellites.
China in 2003 became the third country, after the U.S. and Russia, to send a person into space aboard its own rocket. The communist country, fueled by the fastest-growing major economy, plans to send a robot to the moon to fetch lunar soil by 2017.
``American satellites are the soft underbelly of our national security,'' Representative Edward Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, said in a Jan. 18 statement. ``It is urgent that President Bush move to guarantee their protection by initiating an international agreement to ban the development, testing, and deployment of space weapons and anti-satellite systems.''
The Chinese satellite was stationed about 500 miles (800 kilometers) above the Earth, and its debris may become a problem for other satellites, said Markey, the chairman of the House subcommittee on telecommunications and the Internet.
A cloud of debris may threaten vital U.S. space-based machines, he said. These include a constellation of 66 communications satellites on which commercial and military clients rely.
The U.S. is especially vulnerable to interference with its machines in space because it is so dependent on them. Power, water supply, gas and oil storage, banking and finance and government services rely on communications via satellites.
The military uses satellites for missile tracking, intelligence gathering and secure voice communications with troops on the ground.
To contact the reporters on this story: Ed Johnson in Sydney at ejohnson28@bloomberg.net ; Judy Mathewson in Washington at jmathewson@bloomberg.net .
Last Updated: January 22, 2007 18:26 EST
Jan. 23 (Bloomberg) -- The Chinese government assured the U.S. that the test firing of a missile into space to destroy one of its own orbiting weather satellites was ``not meant as a threat,'' the State Department said.
Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill raised the issue with Chinese Foreign Ministry officials during a weekend visit to Beijing, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters in Washington.
Hill was told the Jan. 11 test was ``not meant as a threat against anybody and it's not meant to spark a race to militarize space,'' said McCormack, who urged China to be more ``transparent'' about its space program.
The U.S., U.K. and Australia raised concerns with China following the test and said debris from the destroyed satellite could be dangerous to other space installations. Japan called on the government in Beijing to explain its actions.
``We would encourage greater transparency as to exactly the specifics of this test, the intent behind it,'' said McCormack yesterday, according to a transcript. ``It has been a continuing topic for us as well as others in the region to encourage the Chinese to become more transparent in terms of their military spending and their military programs.''
U.S. officials have expressed concern that other countries may be acquiring capabilities to attack civilian and military space systems.
Hostile Acts
President George W. Bush signed a policy paper in October that asserts a U.S. right to use force against any countries or groups whose hostile acts disrupt American satellites.
China in 2003 became the third country, after the U.S. and Russia, to send a person into space aboard its own rocket. The communist country, fueled by the fastest-growing major economy, plans to send a robot to the moon to fetch lunar soil by 2017.
``American satellites are the soft underbelly of our national security,'' Representative Edward Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, said in a Jan. 18 statement. ``It is urgent that President Bush move to guarantee their protection by initiating an international agreement to ban the development, testing, and deployment of space weapons and anti-satellite systems.''
The Chinese satellite was stationed about 500 miles (800 kilometers) above the Earth, and its debris may become a problem for other satellites, said Markey, the chairman of the House subcommittee on telecommunications and the Internet.
A cloud of debris may threaten vital U.S. space-based machines, he said. These include a constellation of 66 communications satellites on which commercial and military clients rely.
The U.S. is especially vulnerable to interference with its machines in space because it is so dependent on them. Power, water supply, gas and oil storage, banking and finance and government services rely on communications via satellites.
The military uses satellites for missile tracking, intelligence gathering and secure voice communications with troops on the ground.
To contact the reporters on this story: Ed Johnson in Sydney at ejohnson28@bloomberg.net ; Judy Mathewson in Washington at jmathewson@bloomberg.net .
Last Updated: January 22, 2007 18:26 EST
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