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China Set to Launch Record Number of Spacecraft in 2008: report

A real space race between China and U.S.? From AFP:

China will launch a record number of spacecraft this year, state media reported Tuesday, amid a rise in tensions among world powers over the militarisation of space.

China plans to send up more than 10 missions this year, said Yang Baohua, head of the China Academy of Space Technology, according to the China Daily…

The missions this year will include two Shenzhou VII spaceships — one of which will feature the country’s first spacewalk — two environmental satellites and a communications satellite for Venezuela.

See also New York Times Article: Missile-ready China warns U.S. against plan to destroy spy satellite
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- February 19, 2008 12:06 AM
China Concerned About US Satellite Plans

A US plan to shoot down one of its own satellites re-ignites US-China tension over peace in space. From AP:

China said Sunday it was concerned about U.S. military plans to shoot down a damaged spy satellite that is hurtling toward Earth with 1,000 pounds of toxic fuel.

The U.S. military has said it hopes to smash the satellite as soon as next week — just before it enters Earth’s atmosphere — with a single missile fired from a Navy cruiser in the northern Pacific Ocean…

U.S. diplomats around the world have been instructed to inform governments that the operation is meant to protect people from the satellite’s blazing descent and the toxic fuel it is carrying. The diplomats were told to distinguish the upcoming attempt to destroy the satellite from China’s much criticized test last year, when it used a missile to destroy a defunct weather satellite.

See also AFP’s report: US satellite shoot-down part of space ‘arms race’: Russia
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- February 17, 2008 11:08 PM
Is This Satellite Shootdown Necessary?

When China and Russia shake hands on banning weapons in space, what does it mean to the U.S.? How does U.S. respond to it? From Time:

In a week in which Russia and China called for a treaty banning weapons in space, the Pentagon has announced it has orders from President Bush to shoot down a secret spy satellite — but the satellite in question is an American vessel, and its being targeted for destruction before it tumbles back to Earth next month and potentially spews a deadly chemical.

The U.S. hasn’t tried shooting a satellite since President Reagan’s heyday, in 1985 (it succeeded). And Washington complained loudly, early last year, after China successfully completed its first such test, blasting one of its own old weather satellites to bits. “The U.S. believes China’s development and testing of such weapons is inconsistent with the spirit of cooperation that both countries aspire to in the civil space area,” National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said at the time. “We and other countries have expressed our concern regarding this action to the Chinese.”

See also The New York Times report: Missile Defense Future May Turn on Success of Mission to Destroy Satellite
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- February 15, 2008 11:23 PM
The New Space Race: China vs. US

The case of U.S. Department of Justice charges a former Boeing engineer passing secrets to the PRC is not a just diplomatic issue, rather suggests an intense space race between China and US, from Time:

Both the U.S. and China have announced intentions of returning humans to the moon by 2020 at the earliest. And the two countries are already in the early stages of a new space race that appears to have some of the heat and skullduggery of the one between Washington and Moscow during the Cold War, when space was a proxy battleground for geopolitical dominance.

On Monday, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the indictment of a former Boeing engineer for passing sensitive information about the U.S. space program to the Chinese government. According to the indictment, Dongfan Chung, a 72-year-old California man who worked for Boeing until September 2006, gave China documents relating to military aircraft and rocket technology, as well as technical information about the U.S. Space Shuttle.

P.S. Major Chinese media earlier today had long analysis on the two spy cases and said U.S. again woos on the topic of China threat. Many these articles’ URL disappeared later.
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- February 13, 2008 11:15 PM
Thorns in the Rosy China-Russia Relationship – Sergei Blagov

Sergei Blagov writes an article about the relationship between China and Russia. From Asia Times Online:

Having moved beyond their antagonistic Cold War relationship, Russia and China are now seeking to develop a strategic partnership. In addition to Russia’s substantial arms sales to China and joint military exercises conducted under the umbrella of the six-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the two countries have also sought to cement their bilateral relationship through energy ties….[Full Text]
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- August 15, 2007 2:32 PM
Jim Yardley: Chinese Navy Buildup Gives Pentagon New Worries

From The New York Times:

At a time when the American military is consumed with operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, global terrorism and the threat of nuclear proliferation in North Korea and Iran, China is presenting a new and strategically different security concern to America, as well as to Japan and Taiwan, in the western Pacific, Pentagon and military officials say.

China, these officials say, has smartly analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of the American military and has focused its growing defense spending on weapons systems that could exploit the perceived American weaknesses in case the United States ever needs to respond to fighting in Taiwan.
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- April 7, 2005 6:52 PM
China Launches New Class of Nuclear Sub

From AP, via ABC News: “China has launched the first submarine in a new class of nuclear subs designed to fire intercontinental ballistic missiles, U.S. defense officials said Friday.

The submarine is, at a minimum, months away from having missiles installed and going on a cruise, one official said, discussing foreign weapons developments only on the condition of anonymity. Still, it is further evidence of China’s intentions to expand both its nuclear weapons and submarine forces, officials say. ”
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- December 3, 2004 10:13 PM