Finally, China confirmed on Tuesday that it carried out a test that destroyed an orbiting satellite.
Until Tuesday, China had refused to confirm or deny the reports.
China's successful shooting down of an orbiting satellite with a ground-based ballistic missile had caused international alarm.
China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said a test had been carried out, but insisted that China was committed to the "peaceful development of outer space."
Reports last week, backed by the United States, had said China used a ground-based, medium-range ballistic missile to destroy a weather satellite.
It was the first known satellite intercept test in over 20 years.
Several countries, including Japan, Australia and the United States, have expressed concern at the test, amid worries that it could trigger an arms race in space.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told reporters that China had notified "other parties and... the American side" of its test.
But, China stresses that it has consistently advocated the peaceful development of outer space and it opposes the arming of space and military competition in space, Liu Jianchao told a news conference.
"China has never, and will never, participate in any form of space arms race," he asserted.
American Aviation Week and Space Technology magazine had reported that a Chinese Feng Yun 1C polar orbit weather satellite had been destroyed by an anti-satellite system launched from or near China's Xichang Space Centre on January 11, 2007. The test is believed to have taken place at over 537 miles (865 km) above the earth.
The magazine's report was confirmed by US National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe last Thursday.
Johndroe had said at the time that the US "believes China's development and testing of such weapons is inconsistent with the spirit of cooperation that both countries aspire to in the civil space area."
Japan and Australia also spoke of their fears of a possible new arms race in space.
The test also triggered alarm in Taiwan, which relies on US satellites to monitor Chinese deployments.
Besides, there are already growing international concerns about China's rising military power.
While Beijing keeps its defence spending a secret, analysts say that it has grown rapidly in recent years.
China has now become the third country in the world to shoot down something orbiting in space -- after both the United States and the erstwhile Soviet Union halted similar tests in the 1980s over concerns that the debris they produced could harm civilian and military satellite operations.Labels: International Politics |
