China grounds 'space force' talk

Don't expect China to march into Star Wars anytime soon.

Earlier this week, Air Force Commander Xu Qiliang of the People's Liberation Army said that "competition between military forces is shifting to space" in an interview with Xinhua.

Not so fast, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu. At a regular news briefing yesterday, he said that the direction of China's space program is for only peaceful ventures.