Greifenberg Criticizes China Over Missile Test

Friday, 19. January 2007

Greifenberg Press Agency (GPA)

GREIFENBERG (GPA) – Today the Grand Duchy of Greifenberg joined the United States and other nations in its criticism of China for conducting an anti-satellite weapons test during which an old Chinese weather satellite was destroyed by a missile.

Greifenberg's Foreign Minister, Joseph Hilger, today issued a brief statement in which he criticized China for conducting its recent anti-satellite weapons test. “Greifenberg believes that the recent anti-satellite test conducted by the People’s Republic of China represents an indirect threat to satellites of all nations which presently orbit the earth.” The test, first reported by Aviation Week, destroyed the satellite by hitting it with a kinetic kill vehicle launched on board a ballistic missile.

Foreign Minister Hilger called on the Chinese to halt testing on what he described as “patently offensive” anti-satellite weapons and asserted that “the testing of such weapons is inconsistent with the spirit of cooperation that all nations of the Earth should aspire to in space as well as on Earth.” 

Meanwhile Japan has demanded a full explanation from Beijing, Japan's top government spokesman said Friday. Yasuhisa Shiozaki, Chief Cabinet Secretary in Tokyo, further suggested that China's lack of transparency over its military development could trigger suspicions about its motives in the region. "From the viewpoint of the peaceful use of space and security, the Japanese government is naturally concerned about this act of destroying an artificial satellite with a ballistic missile," Shiozaki told reporters in Tokyo.

The head of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, Lt. Gen. Michael Maples, told the U.S. Congress last week in his annual threat address that China and Russia are the "primary states of concern" regarding military space programs. According to Maples, "Several countries continue to develop capabilities that have the potential to threaten U.S. space assets, and some have already deployed systems with inherent anti-satellite capabilities, such as satellite-tracking laser range-finding devices and nuclear-armed ballistic missiles," he said in his written testimony on Jan. 11, the same day China's test was conducted.