Newsweek – Beijing has criticized a recent U.S. report accusing China and Russia of attempting to militarize outer space, the apparent justification for President Donald Trump’s ambitious global missile defense plan.
In a report published Monday, the Defense Intelligence Agency found that “China and Russia, in particular, have taken steps to challenge the United States” in space, including through the development of weaponized satellites, energy weapons and surveillance networks. Such accusations previously appeared in Trump’s 2019 Missile Defense Review, which, among other things, called for the installation of space-based missile interceptors.
Reacting to the report, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said Tuesday: “First of all, I want to make it clear that outer space belongs to all mankind. It is not exclusively owned by any one country and especially not the private property of the U.S.”
