China says space program must help
protect national security
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[December 27, 2016]
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's space
program must help protect the country's national security, but China is
dedicated to the peaceful use of space and opposes a space arms race,
the government said in a policy paper issued on Tuesday.
President Xi Jinping has called for China to establish itself as a space
power, and it has tested anti-satellite missiles, in addition to its
civilian aims
China has repeatedly said its space program is for peaceful purposes,
but the U.S. Defense Department has highlighted its increasing
capabilities, saying it was pursuing activities aimed to prevent
adversaries from using space-based assets in a crisis.
In its policy paper, the government said the space program was an
important part of the country's overall development strategy.
"China always adheres to the principle of the use of outer space for
peaceful purposes, and opposes the weaponisation of or an arms race in
outer space," it said.
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The program must also "meet the demands of economic, scientific and
technological development, national security and social progress", the
paper added, without elaborating on the security part.
However it included past weapons tests as part of the history of its
space program, in which the military has all along been deeply involved
with.
"Over the past 60 years of remarkable development since its space
industry was established in 1956, China has made great achievements in
this sphere, including the development of atomic and hydrogen bombs,
missiles, man-made satellites, manned spaceflight and lunar probes," it
said.
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![](../images/122716pics/news_h5.jpg)
China's President Xi Jinping looks on before meeting with former
U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger (not pictured) at the Great
Halll of the People in Beijing, China December 2, 2016.
REUTERS/Nicolas Asouri/Pool
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China completed its longest manned space mission to date last month,
when two astronauts spent 30 days aboard the Tiangong 2 space
laboratory, or "Heavenly Palace 2", which China is using to carry
out experiments ahead of a longer-range plan to have a permanent
manned space station around 2022.
The white paper also repeated a plan to launch its first Mars probe
by 2020 and to land the first probe ever on the dark side of the
moon in 2018, but gave no details about a previously mooted goal of
landing a Chinese person on the moon by 2036.
(Reporting by Cate Cadell; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by
Michael Perry)
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