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China slams US call to ban anti-satellite missile tests as ‘fake arms control’
- Beijing accuses Washington of attempting ‘real military expansion’ after EU tells the UN it will join proposal to stop destructive ASAT testing
- The proposed ban is opposed by China and Russia, both permanent members of the UN Security Council
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Beijing on Wednesday accused a US proposal to ban anti-satellite weapons testing in space of promoting “fake arms control” and “real military expansion”.
In a working paper submitted to the United Nations last week, the European Union said it planned to join a US proposal to prohibit the destructive testing of direct-ascent anti-satellite missiles (ASAT). The endorsement by the 27 EU member nations – most of them Nato allies – brings the total number of supporting countries to 35.
The EU statement comes ahead of a meeting by a UN working group on reducing space threats in Geneva next week to discuss on-orbit safety.
The US proposal is opposed by China and Russia – both permanent members of the UN Security Council. The US, China, Russia and India have conducted the type of weapons tests that the proposal seeks to ban.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Wednesday that the US commitment was deceptive since it “sets no substantial limit to US military forces in outer space”, and Washington had already carried out enough direct-ascent missile tests and developed other types of anti-satellite weapons.
Wang said Washington’s purpose was to “maintain and enlarge its unilateral military superiority by means of multilateral commitments” and “achieve real military expansion under the guise of false arms control”.
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