China Confirms Missile Test

Jan. 23, 2007
Beijing confirms recent missile test to some countries, is against an arms race in space.

China's Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that Beijing had confirmed its recent missile test to some countries, including the U.S. and Japan, but that it is against an arms race in space.

Both Washington and Tokyo expressed concern about the Jan. 11 test in which China used a missile to shoot down one of its old weather satellites. Both said the anti-satellite test would expand the arms race to space.

"China has opposed the weaponization of space and any arms race," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told a news conference, adding the test was not targeted toward any country.

Before China's confirmation of the test, the U.S. said it detected the weapon destroying an old Chinese weather satellite. Aviation Week, which first reported the test, said the satellite was hit by a kinetic kill vehicle launched from a ballistic missile.

Analysts said the test represented an indirect threat to U.S. defense systems by raising the possibility that its spy satellites could be shot down. The threat wouldn't affect the anti-missile system, which relies only on ground-based radar.

The U.S. military has had the capability to shoot down satellites since the 1980s. In October, President Bush signed an order asserting the United States' right to deny adversaries access to space for hostile purposes.

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