The United States threatened to take military action against China
during a secret "star wars" arms race within the past few years,
according to leaked documents obtained by The Daily Telegraph.
The two nuclear superpowers both shot down their own satellites
using sophisticated missiles in separate show of strength, the files
suggest.
The American Government was so incensed by Chinese actions in space
that it privately warned Beijing it would face military action if it
did not desist.
The Chinese carried out further tests as recently as last year,
however, leading to further
protests from Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, secret
documents show.
Beijing justified its actions by accusing the Americans of
developing an “offensive” laser weapon system that would have the
capability of destroying missiles before they left enemy territory.
The disclosures are contained in the latest documents obtained by
the Wikileaks website, which have been released to The Telegraph.
They detail the private fears of both superpowers as they sought
mastery of the new military frontier.
The “star wars” arms race was began in January 2007 when China
shocked the White House by shooting down one of its weather
satellite 530 miles above the Earth.
The strike, which resulted in thousands of pieces of debris orbiting
the earth, raised fears that the Chinese had the power to cause
chaos by destroying US military and civilian satellites.
In February 2008, America launched its own “test” strike to destroy
a malfunctioning American satellite, which demonstrated to the
Chinese it also had the capability to strike in space.
America stated at the time that the strike was not a military test
but a necessary mission to remove a faulty spy satellite.
The leaked documents appear to show its true intentions.
One month before the strike, the US criticised Beijing for launching
its own “anti-satellite test”, noting: “The United States has not
conducted an anti-satellite test since 1985.” In a formal diplomatic
protest, officials working for Condoleezza Rice, the then secretary
of state, told Beijing: “A Chinese attack on a satellite using a
weapon launched by a ballistic missile threatens to destroy space
systems that the United States and other nations use for commerce
and national security. Destroying satellites endangers people.”
The warning continued: “Any purposeful interference with US space
systems will be interpreted by the United States as an infringement
of its rights and considered an escalation in a crisis or conflict.
“The United States reserves the right, consistent with the UN
Charter and international law, to defend and protect its space
systems with a wide range of options, from diplomatic to military.”
The Chinese strike in 2007 was highly controversial, prompting
criticism from other nations and claims that it marked a revival of
President Reagan’s “Star Wars” programme, that was abandoned in the
1980s.
A
month after the Chinese strike, America shot down one of its own
satellites, ostensibly to stop it returning to earth with a toxic
fuel tank which would pose a health hazard. The Chinese did not
believe the explanation.
In secret dispatches, US officials indicated that the strike was, in
fact, military in nature.
Immediately after the US Navy missile destroyed the satellite, the
American Embassy in China received “direct confirmation of the
results of the anti-satellite test” from the US military command in
the Pacific, according to a secret memo.
The strike marked the high point of tensions between Washington and
Beijing over the issue of ballistic missile defence. The cables show
that China was deeply concerned about America’s plans to place
missile defence radars in Japan.
Another document discloses that the US was allegedly developing an
“airborne laser system” to counter the threat from “Chinese military
build up”.
The Chinese government was said to be “angry” about the US satellite
exercise in February 2008.
For months after the US strike, the two countries engaged in tense
talks over the issue.
At a summit on defence in June 2008, the American delegation told
the Chinese that Washington did not regard China as “an enemy”.
China replied that it saw the two powers “as neither allies nor
adversaries”.
The Chinese assistant foreign minister complained that the US
missile defence programme was not simply “defensive” but also
“offensive” because “it includes lasers that attack a missile in
launch phase over the sovereign territory of the launching country”.
The most recent cable in the collection was sent from the office of
Mrs Clinton in January 2010.
It claimed that US intelligence detected that China had launched a
fresh anti-satellite missile test. Crucially, Washington wanted to
keep secret its knowledge that the missile test was linked to
China’s previous space strikes.
The cable, marked “secret” said the Chinese army had sent an SC-19
missile that successfully destroyed a CSS-X-11 missile about 150
miles above the Earth.
“This test is assessed to have furthered both Chinese ASAT
[anti-satellite] and ballistic missile defense technologies,” stated
the memo to the US embassy in Beijing.
Mrs Clinton’s cable stressed that “the Obama administration”
retained the Bush-era concerns over Chinese space weapon plans.
There is growing concern over the potential for nuclear states or
terrorists to attack western countries using space. Last September,
Dr Liam Fox, the Defence Secretary, warned that rogue countries or
terrorist groups could wipe out electronic systems by producing an
electromagnetic pulse through a nuclear explosion high above the
Earth.
On Wednesday night, a Pentagon spokesman said: "The President's June
2010 National Space Policy requires the Dept. of Defense (DoD) to
have a range of options and capabilities. Our overriding objective
is to promote the peaceful use of space.
"The United States did not engage our own satellite to test or
demonstrate an anti-satellite (ASAT) capability. The purpose was to
prevent the satellite's hydrazine fuel from causing potential harm
to life on the ground.
"To conduct this engagement, we had to make modifications to three
sea-based missile defense interceptors, three ships, and the
system's command and control software.
"We have not made these modifications to any other missile defense
system, nor do we plan to. Our missile defense systems are not
intended or designed to engage satellites."
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