China and Russia Urge Space Arms Ban

Washington Post
July 31, 2003

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8251-2003Jul31.html

China and Russia Urge Space Arms Ban

By Robert Evans

GENEVA (Reuters) - China and Russia, with the United States clearly in
their sights, said Thursday "Star Wars" dangers were growing and called
for a quick start to talks on a treaty to ban weapons in space.

The two powers delivered their plea at a session of the United
Nations-backed Conference on Disarmament just over a year after tabling
proposals for a pact, to be known as PAROS, that have met with a cold
reception from Washington.

"Dire developments augur ill for the issue of PAROS," Chinese
disarmament ambassador Hu Xiaodi told the 66-nation forum, declaring
that efforts were under way to "control and occupy outer space." "The
risk of weaponization of outer space is mounting," he added, in remarks
that sources close to his delegation said were aimed at the U.S.
National Missile Defense (NMD) system due to start up in September next
year.

U.S. officials say NMD is purely defensive and intended to protect their
country from missiles fired by "rogue states" and terrorists. The system
does not envisage deploying weaponry in orbit round the Earth, they say.

NMD is promoted by the administration of President Bush as the successor
to the mooted program of space-based missile defense, dubbed "Star
Wars," championed by then-President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s.

The new system, which would involve firing missiles out of the Earth’s
atmosphere from land-based sites, has been criticized by many countries,
and by some U.S. scientists.

RUSSIA READY FOR PACT

Russia’s ambassador, Leonid Skotnikov, told the Geneva disarmament forum
Thursday that his country remained firmly committed to banning the
deployment of weapons in outer space and wanted a moratorium while a
treaty was negotiated.

"We are ready to take on such a commitment immediately as long as the
leading space powers join in a moratorium," he said.
Skotnikov also called for renewed efforts to relaunch discussion on
confidence-building measures on PAROS — Preventions of an Arms Race in
Outer Space — that have been stalled for almost a decade.

Russia, he said, had started to take unilateral action to ensure
openness and reduce fears about its own space activities by notifying in
advance planned launches of probes, their purpose and their flight
paths.

"We call on other countries which have space launching capabilities to
join us and undertake all necessary measures for building confidence in
outer-space activities," Skotnikov added.

In the past, Russia has accused the United States directly of
obstructing discussion at the conference, which holds three sessions a
year, on a new space accord.

Proponents of a pact, which include many European and nearly all
developing countries, say it is vital to ensure that the 1967 treaty
banning weapons of mass destruction in outer space is not undermined.

With the U.S. withdrawal last year from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile
(ABM) Treaty with the old Soviet Union, they argue there is no reliable
legal pact barring countries from using space for military purposes.