China's apparently successful destruction of a satellite in space shows its determination to be a global power and is set to leave lasting jitters in the US and Asia, analysts said.
The weapons test, which was not confirmed by China, would be the world's first since 1985 when Cold War superpowers Washington and Moscow agreed to suspend "Star Wars" maneuvers that blew up satellites.
The US relies on spy satellites for intelligence, including about China's expanding military, and had refused previous calls for a permanent ban on such tests in space.
The test, which was reported by US officials, would show that spy satellites "are now potentially vulnerable to Chinese destruction," said Lance Gatling, an aerospace consultant based in Tokyo.
"Without announcing it, they are making a clear statement that they intend to pursue such a program at their convenience and they're willing to take some significant heat to do so," he said.
"If you think of the Beijing Olympics and trade talks and everything that's coming up, it's not unprovocative," he added.
The US led criticism of the test, which also triggered concern in Japan and India, Asia's two other main space powers, which have often had tense relations with China.
But Zhu Feng (
"Beijing now is rising so it's also natural, I think, for Beijing to try to make some of the economic achievements spill over to the military," he said.
China is "still very much weaker than the US and Russia in such military capabilities, so it's kind of a strategy of catch-up where it would not like to be lagging so far behind," he said.
"We are also a power, we also have very big, legitimate concerns in the security field. So you cannot say, `OK, Beijing is a rising power [but] Beijing has no right to advance when it's security is concerned,'" he added.
The Chinese government has not commented, but has said that its space program is not a threat.
The US, however, has voiced concern not only over the political implications of the test but also about debris hitting satellites or the International Space Station.
Gatling estimated that debris from the destroyed weather satellite was traveling at some 27,000kph and would stay in space for three to five years.
He said Japan, European nations and possibly India had the know-how to carry out similar tests, which he described at a technical level as the "outer space equivalent of a car bomb."
"It raises the stakes in what some people see as a kind of inevitable progress toward a militarization of space," he said.
also see story:
Western protests flood in over Chinese space missile
Kehinde Sanni spends his days smoothing out dents and repainting scratched bumpers in a modest autobody shop in Lagos. He has never left Nigeria, yet he speaks glowingly of Burkina Faso military leader Ibrahim Traore. “Nigeria needs someone like Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso. He is doing well for his country,” Sanni said. His admiration is shaped by a steady stream of viral videos, memes and social media posts — many misleading or outright false — portraying Traore as a fearless reformer who defied Western powers and reclaimed his country’s dignity. The Burkinabe strongman swept into power following a coup in September 2022
‘FRAGMENTING’: British politics have for a long time been dominated by the Labor Party and the Tories, but polls suggest that Reform now poses a significant challenge Hard-right upstarts Reform UK snatched a parliamentary seat from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labor Party yesterday in local elections that dealt a blow to the UK’s two establishment parties. Reform, led by anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage, won the by-election in Runcorn and Helsby in northwest England by just six votes, as it picked up gains in other localities, including one mayoralty. The group’s strong showing continues momentum it built up at last year’s general election and appears to confirm a trend that the UK is entering an era of multi-party politics. “For the movement, for the party it’s a very, very big
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
SUPPORT: The Australian prime minister promised to back Kyiv against Russia’s invasion, saying: ‘That’s my government’s position. It was yesterday. It still is’ Left-leaning Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday basked in his landslide election win, promising a “disciplined, orderly” government to confront cost-of-living pain and tariff turmoil. People clapped as the 62-year-old and his fiancee, Jodie Haydon, who visited his old inner Sydney haunt, Cafe Italia, surrounded by a crowd of jostling photographers and journalists. Albanese’s Labor Party is on course to win at least 83 seats in the 150-member parliament, partial results showed. Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s conservative Liberal-National coalition had just 38 seats, and other parties 12. Another 17 seats were still in doubt. “We will be a disciplined, orderly