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Last Updated: Apr 16, 2008 - 5:52:06 PM |
SUNDAY FEB 17, 2008 (foodconsumer.org) -- The China's Foreign Ministry Sunday said the country is concerned by U.S. plans to shoot down an ailing spy satellite and said it is considering taking preventative measures, Reuters reported.
Liu Jianchao, the spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, was quoted as saying "The Chinese government is paying close attention to how the situation develops and demands the U.S. side fulfill its international obligations and avoids causing damage to security in outer space and of other countries."
News has been around for a while that a US ailing spy satellite went astray and was expected to fall back to the earth within a month. President George W. Bush has reportedly ordered the Navy to shoot down the 5,000-pound (2,270 kg) satellite with a modified tactical missile.
The order for a military action to destroy the satellite came after security advisers suggested its re-entry could lead to a loss of life, U.S. officials were cited as saying Thursday.
Earlier on Saturday, Russia's Defense Ministry said that the aim of the U.S. plan is to test a new space weapon, but not to destroy an ailing spy satellite and claimed that Russia is concerned.
This will be the first time for the US to conduct an anti-satellite operation since the 1980s, according to Reuters. Russians have not conducted any test of this sort for the last 20 years.
In January 2007, China launched a ground-based missile and destroyed an obsolete weather satellite, introducing lots of debris into the space and drawing criticism from many countries.
Many people are worried that a new race of military weapons has just begun.
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