Cabinet slams China over weapon test

Cabinet Spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) said yesterday the Chinese government was destroying its own credibility following news that it had launched an intercontinental ballistic missile to shoot down an orbiting satellite.

"All the democratic countries in the world will now begin to wonder if China is capable of keeping its promises about maintaining peace and its claims of a peaceful rise. [People will be wondering] if China is lying," Cheng said.

While most countries around the world were working hard to prevent future wars in space, China is heading in the opposite direction, Cheng said, when asked for comment.

Saying that prevention of war in space had been the US' policy since the end of the Cold War, Cheng said it was repugnant that the Chinese government continued to expand its military budgets and develop weapons capable of being used in space.

"What they have done has had a serious impact on universal peace," Cheng said. "We can only hope that they will stop this stupid competition very soon."

When asked for comment, Ministry of National Defense Spokesman Rear Admiral Wu Chi-fang (吳季方) yesterday said China's anti-satellite weapons test was being monitored by the ministry.

However, he added, the military was still in the process of gathering more information for analysis.