U.S. Remains Opposed to Space Arms Control Treaty

U.S., Chinese and Russian diplomats yesterday debated the merits of using arms control to limit the weaponization of space, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Jan. 23).

The discussion at the U.N. Conference on Disarmament in Geneva followed China’s January test of an antisatellite weapon (see GSN, Jan. 19).

U.S. Ambassador Christina Rocca criticized the test yesterday.

“We must be very concerned about the emerging threats to our space assets,” she told the conference.  “These assets are vital to our national security, including our economic interests, and must be defended” (see GSN, Jan. 23).

For their part, Chinese and Russian officials complained that the United States was the “one state” that was blocking efforts to negotiate a treaty banning weapons in space (see GSN, June 11, 2004).

“The notion that introducing weapons and threat of force into outer space could be a sustainable way of securing strategic advantage and legitimate defense objectives is fundamentally flawed,” they said in a working paper circulated to the conference’s 65 nations.

Rocca said that despite the Chinese test, “we believe there is no arms race in space, and therefore no problem for arms control to solve” (Bradley Klapper, Associated Press, Feb. 13).

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