China says it tested weapon but still opposes arms race

China confirmed on Tuesday that it carried out an anti-satellite weapons test earlier this month but said ithas no plans to take part in an internationalspace arms race.

China used a missile on Jan. 11 to destroy an old weather satellite located about 865 kilometres above the Earth. According to U.S. intelligence reports, China tested a ground-based medium-range missile.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Liu Jianchao, inChina's first official comment on the test, saidChinacontinues to uphold the "peaceful use of outer space" andis demonstratinga "responsible attitude" by providing an explanation for its activities.

"China opposes the weaponization of space and any arms race," Liu said at a regular briefing of reporters in Beijing. "The test is not targeted at any country and will not threaten any country."

Liu declined to say why China did not speak out earlier.

Japan, South Korea, Australia, Britain and the U.S. all expressed concern about the test, saying it could lead to increasing militarization of outer space. Japan and the U.S, in particular,asked Beijing to respond.

Canada has also reportedly indicated its opposition to the test, but officials at the Department of Foreign Affairs in Ottawa have yet to confirm that position.

Some countries, including Britain and Australia, indicated they were also concerned that the test would cause a large amount of debris that could scatter into the atmosphere, with the possibility of knocking out other satellites in orbit around the Earth.

According to a recent report in the Washington Post, the test could have resulted in a large "debris cloud" that could damage other satellites nearby in orbit. Analysts said that, based on computer models, the explosion could have created as many as 300,000 pieces of debris.

Acall for transparency

Chinese Foreign Ministry officials reportedly informed U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill about the test when he met officials on the weekend in Beijing.

Hill reportedly told the Chinese they need to make more of an effort totell the world about their military actions as well as their defence budget.

Being transparent would go a long way to "avoid any sort of misunderstandings, not only with the United States, but other countries around the world," U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Monday.

The Chinese satellite was about the same distance from Earth as U.S. spy satellites, prompting some analysts to suggest that the test represented a potential threat to America, the Associated Press reported.

The U.S. has been able to knock out satellites with missiles since the mid-1980s, the website of the Union of Concerned Scientists in the U.S. said.

The only U.S. test was conducted on Oct. 13, 1985. Later that year, the U.S. government implemented a ban on testing anti-satellite weapons.