MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Andrei Kislyakov).
Early this month Russia and China presented a working document on preparations for general legislation on refraining from any deployment of arms in outer space at the annual session of the UN Disarmament Conference in Geneva.
This document formulates definitions and terms in legal documents and contains considerations on possible definitions of key terms like "space object," "outer space," and "space weapons."
Russia hopes that space security, which has become a key issue for the two countries, will become just as important for other states and lead to international legal understandings on preventing arms deployment in space.
Today space is increasingly seen as a possible theater of warfare. Meanwhile, only China and Russia have called on the international community to refrain from deploying weapons in space.
This is not just because the Chinese space program has Russian roots. What is especially important here is the philosophy of Russian-Chinese cooperation, based on a long-term community of state interests, although not without the spirit of commercial competition.
Russian space experts are well aware of possible benefits from space partnership with China. China's space program, and for that matter the country as a whole, can best be described as "self-sufficient". The extent of this self-sufficiency means that China will soon be part of a trio of world space leaders, together with Russia and the U.S. Space partnership with China is therefore very important for the U.S.
China today has three space centers, at Juinquan, Xichang and Taihyuan. The Xinhua news agency reported in March that a fourth center may soon be built in the insular Hainan province in the south of the country. The Renmin Ribao newspaper also reported in April that construction of a new space center was underway on an area of 80 hectares near Shanghai. This is expected to speed up the implementation of the national space program.
The first stage of the new space center will start functioning already in 2007, and construction should be completed in 2010. This facility will allow the Chinese Academy of Space Technology (CAST), where communication systems and power plants are designed for carrier rockets and piloted spacecraft, to expand its research and development. Among the latest developments are the new Chang Zheng-2D (Great March) rocket and the Shenzhou-6 spaceship, which is to take two Chinese astronauts on a second space flight next fall. They will spend a few days in orbit and test the spaceship's orbital module. There is good reason to suppose that sections made with Shenzhou modules will be used to assemble a Chinese space station in the near future.
In addition, China has:
- automatic spaceships with returnable capsules used for photography and scientific experiments (apart from China, only the U.S. and Russia can bring cargo back to the Earth);
- non-returnable research, communication and TV satellites;
- weather satellites, including those warning about earthquakes;
- Beidou navigational satellites, similar to the American GPS NavStar and the Russian-European Cospas-Sarsat.
In other words, China today is a strong space power and, judging by the amount it invests in space exploration, it may soon become an absolute leader in some respects.
As for Beijing's cooperation with the U.S. and Russia, an important detail should be mentioned here. Despite its obvious interest in China's space efforts, while correctly estimating that country's potential, the United States attaches most importance in bilateral contacts to its concerns about the military component of China's space research. Naturally, the prospect of developing its space program to the accompaniment of U.S. space threats will not suit China, even if the two countries work closely together in some high technologies. And this gives Russia an opportunity to consolidate its positions in joint space research and development with China.
