China Seeks Talks on Space Weapons Treaty

BEIJING (AP) – China on Tuesday called for talks on a space weapons treaty, a day after its defense minister reportedly said the country had no plans for a repeat of last month’s test of an anti-satellite weapon.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said China joined with Russia and other states in urging negotiations for an agreement under the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva.

"China has always advocated the peaceful use of space, and advocates strengthening international exchanges and cooperation on the peaceful use of outer space," Jiang said at a regularly scheduled news conference.

Last month’s test, in which a Chinese missile shattered a defunct Chinese weather satellite, drew strong criticism from the United States and other countries, who questioned China’s commitment to peaceful development in space.

On Monday, former Japanese defense chief Fukushiro Nukaga said Chinese Defense Minister Cao Gangchuan told him the test wasn’t targeted at any other nations and there were no plans for a follow up.

Despite such assurances, several countries and scientific experts already have expressed concern that the debris created by the test could damage or interfere with other satellites in orbit.

Russia and China presented a draft outline for a treaty to prevent the deployment of weapons in space in Geneva in June 2002.

Yet the motion made little headway, and President Bush in October signed an order in October tacitly asserting the U.S. right to space weapons and opposing the development of treaties or other measures restricting them.

Jiang said China supported talks on a "international legal document preventing the militarization of outer space and an arms race in outer space."

While giving few details, she said such a treaty should explicitly outlaw the deployment of weapons in space.