There is no doubt that the US is the world's most advanced country in military hardware and software, which also includes space technology. It is probably the only country in the world which is capable of launching sophisticated satellites with medium and long-range ballistic missiles at relatively short notice. It has already got dozens of them in space, both for peaceful purposes like weather forecasting and crop monitoring and for military purposes like conducting reconnaissance, spotting nuclear tests, spying and guiding missiles. The US military also depends heavily on satellites for navigation and communications. The obvious objective is to maintain first-strike capability against China, or any other enemy, by neutralising its nuclear deterrent and other military assets.

China has been deeply worried about this vulnerable situation for a long time. The 1967 Outer Space Treaty banned weapons of mass destruction in space. For years China, with Russia's backing, has tried to negotiate a new international treaty banning all sorts of weapons in space, but the US has refused to do so. Actually, in 2006 President Bush went further. He promulgated an even more aggressive space policy by stating that the US reserves the right to use force against countries which want to disrupt the proper functioning of its satellites, in other words the US will have "freedom of action" in space. This was a clear warning to China because it had been experimenting with high-powered lasers to blind US spy satellites.

Under these circumstances, it should not surprise anyone that China wants to counter the overwhelming military power of the US by improving not only its conventional weapons but also by acquiring the capability to neutralise the US surveillance and global positioning satellites. Until now China has depended heavily on Russian technology for advanced weapons. But, in recent years, it has invested huge sums of money and talent to develop its own technology to increase its military capability in "areas of strike, aerial reconnaissance and strategic projects," such as its new fighter, the J-10 which, according to some experts, is similar in performance to the American F-16 or the European advanced fighters, the Eurofighter Typhoon and Dassault Rafale. To this now, one must add its recent successful test of an anti-satellite missile.

So, are we at the beginning of a new arms race, especially in the area of space? No country, far less China with its formidable economic power, its unlimited supply of talented scientists and engineers and pride in its ancient civilisation, will knowingly cede monopoly in space to a possible enemy which can easily identify and efficiently target its strategic and military assets. But it also knows that it is difficult to compete with the US on this matter because it (the US) seems to have unlimited resources for military purposes. According to the 2007 draft budget proposals, the Pentagon will spend an amount of money, (716.500 million dollars) on easily identifiable military items, which is going to be higher than the total income of the 800 million people of the African continent. China is aware of the fact that the Soviet Union as a nation went bankrupt as a result of such an arms race against the United States.

Therefore, in my opinion, the primary objective of China's recent anti-satellite test was to bring the US to the negotiating table. In a recent statement, the official Chinese Arms Control and Disarmament Association confirmed that "the anti-satellite test was an attempt to redefine the rules of the game."

China has sent a powerful signal to the other major space powers to negotiate a comprehensive treaty, seeking to ban not only the use of anti-satellite weapons but also the use of satellites for spying and other military purposes. It remains to be seen whether they will take note of the signal to start serious negotiations or engage in another arms race.

The writer is a columnist of The Daily Star.