As tensions soar in the south pacific zone amid a freeze in military-to-military contacts, China is accusing the United States of militarising outer space, a day after it protested the passage of a US Navy P-8A Poseidon anti-submarine aircraft through the Taiwan Strait.

Chinese Defence Ministry spokesperson Col. Tan Kefei said on Friday that US actions, including the establishment of the Space Force in 2019 as the newest branch of the military, have “had a great negative impact on space security and global strategic stability.”

However, a China defence Ministry spokesman said, “In recent years, the United States has accelerated the militarisation of space,” Tan said. “I would like to reiterate here that China adheres to the peaceful use of space, firmly opposes the weaponisation and the making of space into a battlefield, and opposes any form of arms race in space.” The ministry said Tan was responding to recent concerns expressed by Space Force leaders over China’s rising capabilities, calling that “classic cognitive dissonance.”

China’s advances in space include its own orbiting space station and plans for a crewed lunar mission. In 2007, it faced international condemnation after using a missile to blow up one of its defunct weather satellites, leaving a field of debris that continues to threaten other objects in orbit.

As tensions soar in the south pacific zone amid a freeze in military-to-military contacts, China is accusing the United States of militarising outer space, a day after it protested the passage of a US Navy P-8A Poseidon anti-submarine aircraft through the Taiwan Strait.

Chinese Defence Ministry spokesperson Col. Tan Kefei said on Friday that US actions, including the establishment of the Space Force in 2019 as the newest branch of the military, have “had a great negative impact on space security and global strategic stability.”

However, a China defence Ministry spokesman said, “In recent years, the United States has accelerated the militarisation of space,” Tan said. “I would like to reiterate here that China adheres to the peaceful use of space, firmly opposes the weaponisation and the making of space into a battlefield, and opposes any form of arms race in space.” The ministry said Tan was responding to recent concerns expressed by Space Force leaders over China’s rising capabilities, calling that “classic cognitive dissonance.”

China’s advances in space include its own orbiting space station and plans for a crewed lunar mission. In 2007, it faced international condemnation after using a missile to blow up one of its defunct weather satellites, leaving a field of debris that continues to threaten other objects in orbit.