China Accuses U.S. Of Trying to Turn Outer Space Into a Battlefield

China has said the U.S. has been making space a battleground by sending up weapons, all while "stonewalling" China from doing the same.

In a press conference, China's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning responded to a US Department of Defense report, titled The 2022 State of the Space Industrial Base Report, which recognized space as a "priority domain of national military power," and suggested that the two nations were participating in a new space race.

"For a long time, the U.S. has openly defined space as a war-fighting domain," Ning said.

"It has built the U.S. Space Force and Space Command, developed and deployed space-based offensive weapons, conducted offensive and defensive military exercises and technology tests, and intensified military cooperation with its allies.

"All this has heightened the risks of military miscalculation and conflict. Also, the U.S. has been stonewalling China and Russia's space arms control initiative and obstructing negotiation for a legal instrument on arms control in space."

The 2022 State of the Space Industrial Base Report suggested that China was the U.S.'s main threat both in space, and as a world power.

"Winning the New Space Race is a national imperative and a critical component of the preservation of liberty and prosperity in the 21st century for the United States, our allies, and partners. The rise of China as both an economic and space power is an imminent threat to democracy, the free market economy, and the international liberal order," the report reads.

"China's many achievements in space are the result of Xi Jinping's "Space Dream" (航天梦), a long-term strategy that galvanizes a whole-of-nation approach toward a singular objective: displace the U.S. as the dominant space power both militarily and economically by 2045."

This report, and China's response, comes as the two nations are simultaneously planning missions to the Moon, both choosing sites on the Moon's South Pole.

NASA currently plans for the Artemis 3 crewed mission to touch down in 2025. Meanwhile, China's Chang'e-7, is set to land in 2024.

NASA administrator Bill Nelson told German newspaper Bild that "we must be very concerned that China is landing on the moon and saying: 'It's ours now and you stay out.'"

China has not appreciated this sentiment from the U.S., however.

"[This report] recognizes space as a priority domain of national military power, further aggravating the trend of turning outer space into a weapon and a battlefield," Ning said.

"It poses a grave challenge to the peace and security of outer space, blatantly tramples on the international consensus on peaceful use of outer space, and fully exposes the U.S. ambition of increasing military build-up and war preparedness and seeking dominance in outer space. The U.S. is in no position whatsoever to talk about so-called 'norms of behavior for responsible space activities.'"

The U.S. government currently bans NASA from sharing the data from the International Space Center with China.

"The U.S. should respect the shared concerns of the international community, immediately stop the negative moves that could undermine security of outer space, step up to its due responsibilities, and stop hindering negotiations for a legal instrument on arms control in outer space," said Ning.

While the Moon is currently the aim for both countries' space agencies, some have suggested that the so-called New Space Race will involve a race to get to Mars first.

"The real race is who is going to be the first nation on Mars," former NASA Associate Administrator Doug Loverro told CNN. "Just as leadership of the 20th century was framed by who was first on the moon, I believe the leadership of the 21st century will be framed by who is first on Mars."