Beijing - China said Thursday that it was concerned about potential damage from the shooting-down of a defective spy satellite by the United States. Liu Jianchao, spokesman for the Foreign Affairs Ministry, said it was worried the strike would hurt the security of space and other countries.
He asked that the United States provide the international community with information on the shoot-down "promptly" so "relevant countries can take precautions."
The Pentagon said a missile fired from a US warship in the Pacific Ocean hit the spy satellite late Wednesday.
Liu's comments came after China itself launched an anti-satellite missile to destroy an ageing weather satellite in January 2007. At the time, the move drew international criticism, including from the United States, about the potential militarization of space as well as a debris field that the strike caused around Earth's orbit.
The United States said, however, that the situation with its satellite was different.
The Pentagon said there is a danger that the satellite could hit a populated area and spread potentially lethal fumes from its hydrazine fuel.
In addition, it said while China's missile left debris that has remained in orbit over a wide range of Earth's surface and has presented a danger to other orbiting craft, bringing down the US spy satellite would generate debris that will fall out of orbit within weeks.
China's shoot-down of its satellite was the first known hit on a missile from Earth.
