- Title: China says space programme must help protect national security
- Date: 27th December 2016
- Summary: BEIJING, CHINA (DECEMBER 27, 2016) (REUTERS) NEWS CONFERENCE BEGINNING MEDIA SEATED (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR OF CHINA NATIONAL SPACE ADMINISTRATION, WU YANHUA, SAYING: "We are going for strength and size - we will strategically create a new industry with satellites, to speed up the application of the internet and satellites, to create new sources of economic growth, to make further contributions to national economic growth and social development." MEDIA SEATED (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR OF CHINA NATIONAL SPACE ADMINISTRATION, WU YANHUA, SAYING: "People are constantly in pursuit of the peaceful use and exploration of outer space. China would like to work with the international community to jointly promote the development of the global space industry, on the basis of equality and mutual benefit, the peaceful use (of outer space), (and) inclusive development. On a broader, higher and deeper level, this space pursuit will better benefit all mankind and develop civilization and social development." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS
- Embargoed: 11th January 2017 05:32
- Keywords: China space space programme national security security arms race peace
- Location: BEIJING, CHINA
- City: BEIJING, CHINA
- Country: China
- Topics: Science,Space Exploration
- Reuters ID: LVA0015ENRZNP
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: China's space programme 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 (December 27).
"We are going for strength and size," said Wu Yanhua, the deputy administrator of China National Space Administration, during a news conference after the white paper's release on Tuesday.
"China would like to work with the international community to jointly promote the development of the global space industry, on the basis of equality and mutual benefit, the peaceful use (of outer space), (and) inclusive development," Wu added.
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 programme 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 programme was an important part of the country's overall development strategy.
The programme 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 programme, in which the military has all along been deeply involved with.
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. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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