WASHINGTON (AP) - Chinese Foreign ministry officials have told a visiting U.S. diplomat that China's successful test of an anti-satellite weapon should not be seen as a threat and does not signal the beginning of a race to militarize space, the State Department said Monday. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill raised the issue with Chinese officials over the weekend in Beijing. China has not made a public announcement of the Jan. 11 test, in which it shot down one of its own old weather satellites, but officials acknowledged it during their meeting with Hill, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
Hill, who heads the State Department's East Asia bureau, told the Chinese they should be more forthcoming about their military activities and their defense budget. These issues have been a long- running concern of the United States, and McCormack said the Chinese have taken only "baby steps" thus far toward more openness.
McCormack said the United States seeks "greater understanding of exactly what their intent was" in testing the anti-satellite weapon. He said Hill also asked for details of the test and what plans China may have for future tests.
"All of this is designed, really, to avoid any sort of misunderstandings, not only with the United States, but other countries around the world," McCormack said.
Hill was in Beijing as part of a three-nation visit to exchange views on talks with North Korea over its nuclear weapons program. He also visited South Korea and Japan.
In criticizing the test on Friday, the State Department said "modern life as we know it" depends on the security of space-based technology, whose uses include data transmission, communications and weather forecasting.
