An air force commander from China has recently stated that a space arms race is all but inevitable. The commander Xu Qiliang proclaimed it was essential for China to produce operations that are both offensive and defensive when it comes to its space endeavours.

It is important to note that having superiority in space can would allow a given country a greater military strategic advantage and control over land and sea war zones anywhere on earth. The government of China has proclaimed for a long time that it intends to explore outer space for peaceful purposes and not to weaponize its space missions. It has even gone further when it called for the establishment of an international treaty for controlling the deployment of space weapons. It is important to mention that in early 2007, China had shot down one of its weather satellites, surprising many in the space and military fields and increasing worries of a space arms race.