US general confirms China has reached out to discuss space safety as military ties show signs of thawing

US Space Command chief Stephen Whiting says Beijing has contacted US about two space-related matters in past six months, according to news site

‘We think that is very positive and we would like to continue to build on that,’ Whiting says as the rivals restore defence talks

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US Space Force General Stephen Whiting has said China’s military space abilities are growing at a “breathtaking pace”. Photo: Getty Images

Published: 10:00pm, 13 Apr 2024

China has “proactively” reached out to the United States to discuss issues related to space safety, according to the chief of the US Space Command, in a rare show of cooperation as ties between the two rival nations show signs of thawing.

Military website Breaking Defence quoted the US Space Command’s Stephen Whiting as saying that China had in the past six months reached out to the US “on two things they wanted to talk to us about with space safety-related issues”.

“We think that is very positive and we would like to continue to build on that,” he said on the sidelines of a space symposium earlier this week.

According to the report, the four-star general said the US routinely shared data on potential orbit collisions with countries including China, but Beijing did not always respond to its engagement.

It was unclear from the report how many times China reached out to the US. The report also did not elaborate on the two issues or when exactly the interactions took place.

Whiting also told reporters that the US had long underscored that close international collaboration on orbital data was crucial to prevent collisions and that Washington “would love to have a regular path to share safety data” with Beijing.

The American space commander’s comments came as frosty relations between the two major powers thawed on the back of high-level engagements in recent months.