China warns US space weapons could fuel arms race

China urged the United States to halt its military build-up in outer space after Washington acknowledged it has weapons deployed in orbit, while Chinese state media warned the move could fuel a global arms race.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said Beijing opposed the weaponization of outer space and turning it into a war zone.

“We urge the U.S. to stop expanding military build-up in outer space, and uphold global strategic stability with concrete actions,” Guo told a regular press briefing on Tuesday.

U.S. Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink said on Monday the United States had “on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending the Joint Force against hostile adversary action”, the strongest acknowledgement yet by a Pentagon official of U.S. weapons in orbit. Meink did not identify the weapons.

China’s state-backed Global Times said in a report on Tuesday that the disclosure exposed what it called Washington’s pursuit of “space hegemony” and risked fuelling a global space arms race.

Chinese military analyst Song Zhongping told the newspaper the acknowledgement marked a shift from protecting space assets and relying on ground-based counter-space systems toward directly deploying weapons in orbit.

“If the U.S. continues down this path, other countries may be forced to respond,” Song said.

Last week, state news agency Xinhua said in an analysis of a U.S. orbital military exercise that Washington’s push to weaponize this domain risked creating a “security dilemma”, forcing other countries to strengthen counter-space capabilities that the United States would then regard as new threats.

在华盛顿承认已在轨道上部署武器后，中国敦促美国停止在外太空的军事集结，而中国官方媒体则警告称，此举可能加剧全球军备竞赛。

中国外交部发言人郭家坤表示，北京反对将外层空间武器化，将其变成战场。

郭在周二的例行记者会上表示：“我们敦促美方停止扩大在外太空的军事集结，用实际行动维护全球战略稳定。”

美国空军部长特洛伊·梅因克周一表示，美国拥有“在轨空间控制武器，能够保护联合部队免受敌对行动的攻击”。这是五角大楼官员迄今为止对美国在轨武器的最强硬表态。梅因克并未透露这些武器的具体名称。

中国官方媒体《环球时报》周二发表报道称，此次披露暴露了华盛顿所谓的“太空霸权”追求，并有可能加剧全球太空军备竞赛。

中国军事分析家宋忠平告诉该报，这一承认标志着从保护太空资产和依靠地面反太空系统转向直接在轨道上部署武器。

宋说：“如果美国继续走这条路，其他国家可能被迫做出回应。”

上周，新华社在对美国轨道军事演习进行分析时表示，华盛顿推动将太空领域武器化的做法有可能造成“安全困境”，迫使其他国家加强反太空能力，而美国随后会将这些能力视为新的威胁。