JAPAN’s first-ever space domain defence guidelines, which purportedly aim to build the capacity to detect “threats”, such as “killer satellites and anti-satellite weapons”, and to protect Japan’s satellites, have come in a transparent attempt to divert attention from its own militarist agenda.

While it is reasonable for nations to safeguard space assets, Japan’s guidelines unwarrantedly cite concerns about countries such as China and Russia “militarising” space, claiming that they are developing “killer satellites” that can attack other nations’ satellites.

According to a report of The Japan News, the Japanese guidelines unveiled by the defence ministry claim that countries, including China and Russia, have conducted tests on satellite rendezvous and proximity operations, which the Japanese space defence guidelines claim are intended to help develop “killer satellites”.

By framing peaceful satellite rendezvous tests as evidence of “killer satellites”, Japan is creating a pretext for its own aggressive actions in space.

This is a dangerous path that threatens to turn outer space — a global commons for all of humanity — into a new domain of conflict. The international community must remain vigilant to Japan’s remilitarisation. China unequivocally opposes the weaponisation of space. The country is committed to the peaceful use of space, and opposes any arms race in space or weaponising of it. China actively promotes negotiations for legal instruments on space arms control, and calls for the building of a community with a shared future for humanity in outer space.

Japan’s use of unsubstantiated claims to justify its space militarisation is unacceptable. As a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said, in recent years, Japan has increased its defence spending annually and moved further down the path of military expansion. As far as the global commons of outer space is concerned, Japan, the United States and other Western countries have intensified space military cooperation under the guise of “defence” and accelerated space weapon deployment. These actions threaten space security and regional stability, and revive concerns about Japanese militarism.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45) and the World Anti-Fascist War. Japan should deeply reflect on its history of aggression, which caused over 35 million Chinese casualties. It should also recognise that economic cooperation with China in the past decades has benefited its own development.

Yet instead of pursuing reconciliation, certain Japanese forces cling to militarist ambitions. They systematically fabricate a “China threat” narrative to legitimise the country’s military buildup — a tactic that deceives nobody.

Compared to Japan’s ever-increasing spending on the expansion of its military might — and even selling warships to other countries to stir up trouble in the South China Sea — China has done a great deal to promote regional and global development by launching the Belt and Road Initiative and other cooperative projects around the world.

China has proposed the Global Development Init­iative, the Global Civi­lisation Initiative and the Global Security Initiative, all of which promote global economic and social development for the well-being of all countries.

Published in Dawn, August 4th, 2025