June 2, 2014 7:00 pm JST
US fears 'Pearl Harbor' in space
TOSHIKI YAZAWA, Nikkei staff writer
The International Space Station (photo courtesy of NASA)
© Kyodo
WASHINGTON -- Former U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has
repeatedly warned of a possible second "Pearl Harbor" recently, citing
the country's huge vulnerability to cyberattacks by China.
In
fact, China is now expanding its U.S. targets for cyberattacks, which
have so far been primarily aimed at getting access to corporate secrets
related to the nuclear, steel and other industries.
According
to U.S. Congressional research, the control systems of multiple U.S.
artificial satellites responsible for air traffic control and global
positioning systems have suffered waves of cyberattacks that are
believed to have originated in China.
If the U.S. stands idly
by, the main functions of the American military, such as reconnaissance
and early warning systems, could be paralyzed due to surprise attacks.
The U.S. administration of President Barack Obama filed criminal
charges against five Chinese people in May for involvement in
cyberattacks by a unit of the People's Liberation Army.
The
U.S. move reflects a growing sense of crisis over a possible second
"Pearl Harbor" as Panetta put it. Panetta served as Pentagon chief in
the Obama administration between 2011 and 2013.
According to
Chinese media, President Xi Jinping ordered the air force in April to
beef up its attack and defense capabilities, including in outer space,
by promoting the integration of its national defense and space policies.
The U.S. is particularly alarmed by a Chinese weapon system designed to destroy spy satellites using ballistic missiles.
In a test that scattered debris in outer space, China successfully
destroyed a satellite with a ballistic missile in January 2007. China is
believed to have since improved the targeting accuracy significantly.
One U.S. defense official described the Chinese weapon system as one of the biggest threats to the American military.
A growing number of experts say that China is now ahead of the U.S.
in the development of new supersonic bombers that are difficult to track
on radar because of their high stealth capabilities. This view has
added fuel to concerns in the U.S. Congress.
Further
frustrating the U.S. in the space and military fields is Russia, with
which the U.S. is now locked in an increasingly deep confrontation over
the issue of Ukraine.
The Obama administration focuses on
asteroids as the immediate target of its space exploration plan. But
this policy is unpopular not only at home but also internationally.
In fact, the European Space Agency is now eyeing closer relations
with China, India and other emerging markets. China successfully landed a
space probe on the moon, while India successfully launched a Mars
probe.
NASA wants to keep Britain, Germany, France and Japan
in the U.S. fold. In January, NASA announced a decision to extend the
mission of the International Space Station, by at least four years.
Under the agreement among the countries participating in the space
station, which include Japan and European countries, the mission was to
expire in 2020.
John Sheldon, a former British diplomat
well-versed in international space policy-related matters, said that
NASA decided to extend the ISS mission to prevent China from playing a
leading role in international space exploration projects.
Meanwhile, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin unveiled
retaliatory measures against the U.S. in May in response to economic
sanctions over the Ukrainian crisis.
The retaliatory measures
include banning the supply of Russian engines for U.S. rockets to be
launched for military purposes. Russia also threatened to terminate
cooperation over the ISS project, saying that its participation in the
project after 2020 is uncertain.
What alarms the U.S. is the partnership between China and Russia being strengthened in the space field.
China and Russia are actually cooperating at international forums
such as the United Nations-sponsored Conference on Disarmament in Geneva
to push for their proposals for new rules on the military use of outer
space.
The U.S. is desperately trying to keep Australia,
Canada, Britain and others in its fold in the space and military fields.
It is also trying to strengthen relations with Japan in those areas.
But the U.S. and Japan have yet to make progress in the very
important area of missile defense cooperation, according to a source
familiar with the bilateral relations.
European countries
other than Britain do not want heavy dependence on the U.S., so they
have to pay close attention to the balance between the U.S. on the one
hand and China and Russia on the other.
A decline in U.S.
power is inevitable due to the rise of China and Russia. The confusion
over U.S. space and military policies could deepen further.
In the 1950s and 1960s, the U.S. and the former Soviet Union were
locked in a fierce competition over space development, conducting
satellite destruction tests. Pointless tensions continued between East
and West over missile defense and other issues.
A new Cold
War-like situation appears to be emerging in outer space due to two
changes in geopolitical dynamics -- China's rising power and the
Ukrainian crisis.
There is a possibility that international
cooperation for the peaceful use of outer space will disappear amid a
wave of relentless mutual distrust between the U.S. on the one hand and
China and Russia on the other.
