Global Courant
TOKYO – The U.S. Space Force has held internal talks about setting up a hotline with China to prevent crises in space, U.S. Commander Gen. Chance Saltzman told Reuters on Monday.
The head of space operations said a direct line of communication between the Space Force and its Chinese counterpart would be valuable in de-escalating tensions, but that the US has not yet entered into talks with China to establish one.
“What we’ve certainly talked about on the American side is opening a line of communication to make sure that if a crisis breaks out, we know who to contact,” Saltzman said, adding that it would be up to President Joe Biden would be. and the State Department to take the lead in such discussions.
The comments come as the US Space Force considers establishing a branch in Japan, while China’s military ambitions in the Indo-Pacific are disrupting its neighbors and the war in Ukraine is highlighting the importance of space capabilities in warfare.
Japan is particularly concerned about Taiwan and the lessons China may have learned from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a year ago. China, which considers democratically governed Taiwan its own territory, has not refrained from using force to bring the island under Beijing’s control.
Saltzman, who held talks with top Japanese defense officials in Tokyo on Monday, confirmed that the Space Force was exploring the possible establishment of a local headquarters in Japan.
He did not elaborate on its location or purpose, but did say it could resemble a branch established in South Korea last November.
Saltzman added that deeper cooperation with like-minded countries, including Japan, would be crucial to monitor and understand activities in the space domain to deter China and counter “gray zone activities” such as satellite signal jamming.
“We need to be able to get those indications and alerts and see what they’re doing and address them with intent. Just be hypersensitive so that we don’t fall prey to gray zone activity,” Saltzman said.
The US Space Force, established in 2019, also has no direct line of communication with its Russian counterpart. REUTERS
