Chinese envoy calls for legally binding treaty to prevent arms race in outer space

A Chinese envoy on Tuesday called for negotiations on a legally binding treaty to prevent an arms race in outer space amid growing concerns over the deployment of weapons in orbit.

Li Chijiang, China's ambassador for disarmament affairs, made the remarks during a thematic debate on outer space at the First Committee of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly.

"An arms race in, and the weaponization of, outer space have become a real threat currently," Li said.

Noting that the United States has defined outer space as a war-fighting domain and acknowledged the deployment of on-orbit space control weapons, he said such development is sending an "extremely dangerous signal to the international community".

Li said preventing an arms race and the weaponization of outer space should be the most urgent task in space security governance. "Without resolving this fundamental issue, other rules governing outer space will be undermined," he said.

"Space war cannot be won and must never be fought," he said, adding that no country should seek dominance in outer space or engage in great-power competition and confrontation there.

Li called for stronger international efforts to negotiate and conclude an arms control treaty on outer space. "Facts have proven that voluntary measures cannot stop the weaponization of outer space," he said.

Li highlighted the draft Treaty on the Prevention of the Placement of Weapons in Outer Space, the Threat or Use of Force against Outer Space Objects (PPWT), proposed by China and Russia, as the "only proposal currently on the table for a legally binding instrument on outer space arms control".

The draft has two core obligations, which are "prohibiting the placement of weapons in outer space" and "prohibiting the threat or use of force against outer space objects", according to Li.

"China welcomes further discussions to refine the PPWT text and supports continued work under the UN Open-ended Working Group on the Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space," he said.

Li also called for multilateral consultations in developing rules for outer space and "oppose double standards".

"Rules for outer space should be jointly formulated by all countries, rather than small cliques or exclusive arrangements," Li said.

He said "selective arms control" that overlooks the deployment of weapons in orbit would not contribute to maintaining peace and security in outer space.

He also called for attaching importance to governance on emerging issues.

"We need to conduct in-depth research into the legal disputes and practical problems arising from the intervention of commercial aerospace actors in armed conflicts of other states, and put forward viable governance solutions based on extensive consultations," said Li.

The First Committee of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly, chaired by Nepal's permanent representative to the UN Lok Bahadur Thapa, opened on Oct 5 and is scheduled to conclude its work on Nov 3.

The committee focuses on disarmament and international security issues, including nuclear weapons, conventional arms and outer space security.