China says Japan’s space defence guidelines ‘threaten security and stability’
Tokyo’s new strategy cites Chinese and Russian development of military capabilities in space as a reason for boosting defence
In response, China’s foreign ministry on Tuesday said that in space, Japan, the US and other Western countries continued “expanding military cooperation and used ‘defence’ as a pretext to develop and deploy space weapons”.
“These measures threaten the security and stability of outer space and trigger the concerns of neighbouring countries about a revival of militarism,” foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said at a regular press conference in Beijing.
“To ensure their military superiority, some states, including China and Russia, are actively developing technologies to disrupt and disable other countries’ satellites … investing in improving capabilities, turning space into a growing combat domain and increasing threats and risks in outer space,” the guidelines say.
It comes as Japan and the US have stepped up cooperation on space-based surveillance and intelligence sharing. That includes the US forces in Japan setting up a space command at its Yokota air base in December.