* Both superpowers destroyed their own satellites with missile strikes in show of strength
The U.S. warned China it could take military action in response to Beijing’s use of space missiles, it has emerged.
Leaked diplomatic documents reveal that the U.S. shot down one of its own satellites to demonstrate its ballistic power after China had destroyed its own weather satellite.
And despite being threatened with military action in 2007 by then U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, China carried out another missile test only last year.
The military standoff has been likened to the ‘star wars’ strategic missile plan conceived by Ronald Reagan in the 1980s.
According to diplomatic cables obtained by WikiLeaks and published by the Daily Telegraph, China and the U.S. jostled for position behind closed doors over the issue of missile defence.
China shot down a weather satellite stationed 530 miles above the earth in January 2007, sending over 2,000 pieces of space debris into orbit.
The strike was the first anti-satellite test since 1985 but despite widespread international criticism of China’s actions, then-Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jinchao stressed: ‘There’s no need to feel threatened by this.’
The field of conflict: An artist's impression of a weather satellite, similar to that shot out of the sky by China with a missile
The U.S. state department appeared to not agree, with Clark Randt, the American Ambassador in Beijing complaining about the test to Chinese assistant foreign minister He Yefei.
Officials working for Ms Rice later told China: ‘A Chinese attack on a satellite using a weapon launched by a ballistic missile threatens to destroy space systems that the United States and other nations use for commerce and national security. Destroying satellites endangers people.’
Officials warned: ’Any purposeful interference with US space systems will be interpreted by the United States as an infringement of its rights and considered an escalation in a crisis or conflict.
‘The United States reserves the right, consistent with the UN Charter and international law, to defend and protect its space systems with a wide range of options, from diplomatic to military.'
While the U.S. said China’s testing of an anti-satellite missile contravened ‘the spirit of cooperation’ of international space operations in the 21st century, just over a year later Washington launched its own test strike.
A malfunctioning U.S. satellite was shot down in February 2008, with the public explanation that its fuel tank was defective and would be hazardous if the satellite retuned to earth.
However, diplomatic missives at the time indicate the strike was militarily-sanctioned, with the American Embassy in China receiving ‘direct confirmation of the results of the anti-satellite test’ from U.S. military commanders in the Pacific.
Leaked embassy cables reveal the shooting of satellite USA 193 angered Beijing.
A memo sent from the Beijing embassy in Februarty 2008 said the Chinese 'repeatedly emphasised that the United States should provide information on the planned satellite interception prior to releasing the information to CNN'.
Tensions were evident in June 2008 with Chinese delegates at a defence summit claiming the superpowers were ‘neither allies nor adversaries’.
However, China carried out a fresh test last year, according to documents sent from the office of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in January 2010.
A diplomatic cable said the Chinese destruction of a CSS-X-11 missile about 150 miles above the earth could be judged to have ‘furthered both Chinese ASAT [anti-satellite] and ballistic missile defense technologies’.
The cable also outlined the concern of the ‘Obama administration’ over China’s stance on space weaponry.
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