During a visit to South Korea and Japan, the United States Space Commander issued a warning regarding the speed of China’s space development, causing concerns for the United States.
On Wednesday, at a press conference held at the Asia-Pacific Media Center of the U.S. State Department, General Stephen Whiting, Commander of the United States Space Command located in Tokyo, stated that over the past six years, the number of intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance satellites in orbit around the Earth has doubled for China (PRC), enhancing the lethality, precision, and range of its ground forces through space capabilities.
Whiting warned, “China is developing at an astonishing pace in space; they are rapidly advancing a range of anti-space weapons to threaten our space capabilities.”
He mentioned, “They are also using space to make their ground forces, army, navy, marines, and air force more precise, lethal, and with longer ranges… Therefore, this is clearly a worrisome issue and one that we are closely monitoring.”
Chinese media reported that China has increased its military aerospace investment to achieve modernization goals by 2027, marking the hundredth anniversary of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army, paving the way for China to become a “world-class” military power by 2049.
Whiting noted that Washington has observed the new restructuring of China’s aerospace forces.
On April 19, China disbanded the Strategic Support Force, established in 2015, responsible for the network, space, electronic, and psychological warfare capabilities of the People’s Liberation Army. This was the largest structural reform in nearly a decade for the Chinese military.
A new Information Support Force was established on the same day, taking on some of the functions of the Strategic Support Force, while the military aerospace forces and cyber warfare units formerly under the Strategic Support Force were separated to form a new independent branch, reporting directly to the Central Military Commission under a new command structure.
Whiting remarked, “China made these changes to further strengthen the importance of space and information warfare, as well as cyber operations within the Chinese military.”
He added, “We hope to understand what this signifies. We hope they (China) can provide a certain level of transparency in this regard.”
The United States and its Asian allies have been enhancing their military capabilities and cooperation to address the threats posed by China. Whiting stated that South Korea and Japan share a “common understanding” of the current threats and the significance of space, noting that “space is not only the way we defend our nations, but also how we accomplish the modern way of life we are accustomed to.”