China's growing space power worries Pentagon

by Rich Bowden - Mar 7 2008, 05:18

The Pentagon has released a damning report on its concerns over the increasing power of China in space saying it believes the People's Republic is pursuing a policy aimed at limiting or preventing the use of space-based assets by its potential enemies during times of crisis or conflict.

It has underlined the Chinese commitment to the production of space missiles by pointing to the successful downing of a defunct weather satellite by a Chinese direct-ascent, anti-satellite missile in 2007.

Drafted by the Department of Defence, the Military Power of the People's Republic of China 2008 report is an annual report to Congress prepared by the U.S. Office of the Secretary of Defence. It calls on China to be more accountable in its military expenditure saying its growing stature as a world power meant its accelerated defence program had global implications.

"The lack of transparency in China's military and security affairs poses risks to stability by increasing the potential for misunderstanding and miscalculation. This situation will naturally and understandably lead to hedging against the unknown," the report states.

Referring to the 2007 missile test, the report went on: "The test raised concern among many nations, and the resulting debris cloud put at risk the assets of all space faring nations, and posed a danger to human space flight."

"In the counterspace area, the Chinese test of an anti-satellite system, a little over a year ago, was something that really brought home, in a very dramatic way, the capabilities that China has been developing...not that we weren't aware of those developments beforehand," David Sedney, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Defence for East Asia told reporters.

"But when you see something actually used, then it certainly attracts your attention. Because you've seen that, not only are they working on it, but they've done it ... they've acquired that capability," he added.

The report also cited the Chang'e 1, the Chinese lunar probe currently orbiting the Moon, as evidence of China's ability to "to conduct complicated space manoeuvres — a capability which has broad implications for military counterspace operations."

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