China Warns of Space Arms Race After US Confirms Weapons in Orbit

China called on the United States to halt its military expansion in outer space after a senior Pentagon official acknowledged that Washington has weapons deployed in orbit. Beijing warned the disclosure could trigger a global arms race and undermine strategic stability.

The Chinese response followed the strongest acknowledgement yet by a Pentagon official that the United States maintains weapons in orbit. Chinese state media framed the admission as evidence of what it described as Washington's pursuit of space dominance.

U.S. Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink said on Monday the United States had "on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending the Joint Force against hostile adversary action." Meink did not identify the weapons. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said Beijing opposed the weaponization of outer space and turning it into a war zone. "We urge the U.S. to stop expanding military build-up in outer space, and uphold global strategic stability with concrete actions," Guo told a regular press briefing on Tuesday.

China's state-backed Global Times said in a report on Tuesday that the disclosure exposed what it called Washington's pursuit of "space hegemony" and risked fuelling a global space arms race. Chinese military analyst Song Zhongping told the newspaper the acknowledgement marked a shift away from protecting space assets and relying on ground-based counter-space systems, toward directly deploying weapons in orbit. "If the U.S. continues down this path, other countries may be forced to respond," Song said.

The warnings build on earlier Chinese commentary. Last week, state news agency Xinhua said in an analysis of a U.S. orbital military exercise that Washington's push to weaponize the domain risked creating a "security dilemma," forcing other countries to strengthen counter-space capabilities that the United States would then regard as new threats.

According to the Chinese officials and analysts cited, the U.S. acknowledgement signals a departure from a defensive posture toward the direct deployment of offensive systems in orbit, a change Beijing says threatens global strategic stability and could compel other nations to expand their own space capabilities.

Beijing has urged Washington to take concrete steps to halt its military build-up in orbit, though no specific talks, deadlines, or further measures were named.