A Chinese envoy on Wednesday called for efforts to prevent weaponization of outer space and escalation of arms race in the domain.
Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, made the appeal at a Security Council meeting on a draft resolution of the placement of weapons of mass destruction in outer space.
The draft resolution, tabled by the United States and Japan, won the support of 13 of the 15 members of the Security Council. Russia, which has veto power, voted against it. China abstained.
Before the vote, the Security Council rejected an amendment to the draft resolution proposed by Russia and China to include a ban on the placement of weapons of any kind in outer space.
Fu expressed his regret that the amendment was not adopted.
The draft resolution, without the amendment, is incomplete and unbalanced and does not reflect to the fullest extent the common interests and the shared call of the 193 member states on the issue of outer space security. Therefore, China had to abstain from the vote on the draft resolution, he said in an explanation after the vote.
Fu said that in recent years, the threats and challenges to outer space security have been looming, while the risk of weaponization of outer space is on the rise. Certain countries have even defined outer space as a "battlefield," accelerated the development of their space military capabilities, and formed military alliances in outer space.
Based on the resolutions on outer space adopted by the UN General Assembly in recent years, China and Russia proposed the amendment to the draft resolution to include such contents as "calling on member states to take measures to prevent the placement of weapons in outer space" and "to negotiate and conclude legally binding multilateral agreements as soon as possible, said Fu.
He calls for international cooperation in outer space on the basis of equality, mutual benefit, openness and inclusiveness to prevent the weaponization and arms race in outer space.
"We should continue to prevent the weaponization and arms race in outer space, launch negotiations on an international legal instrument on arms control in outer space as soon as possible, and ensure that outer space is a peaceful space that benefits all member states and humanity as a whole. In this regard, major spacefaring nations should take the lead and set an example in the application of space technology," said Fu.
Fu reaffirms China's commitment to the peaceful use of outer space and its extensive cooperation with the international community. He said China is ready to continue to work with other countries to promote the peaceful use of outer space, promote global economic development and social progress, and make greater contributions to the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.
China urges efforts to prevent weaponizing outer space
