China, Russia rapidly building arms for space war

[Geee]

Washington Times:

The nominee to lead the U.S. Strategic Command warned Congress this week that China and Russia are rapidly building space warfare capabilities and the United States is lagging behind in efforts to counter the threat.

Both Beijing and Moscow are developing anti-satellite missiles and laser guns and maneuvering killer space robots that could cripple strategic U.S. communications, navigation and intelligence satellites, the backbone of American high-technology warfare.

Air Force Gen. John E. Hyten, picked to be the next Stratcom commander, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that Chinese and Russian space weapons pose “an emerging challenge” and that the Pentagon is accelerating its efforts to counter the threat.

“The Department of Defense has aggressively moved out to develop responses to the threats that we see coming from China and Russia,” the four-star general said Tuesday. “I believe it’s essential that we go faster in our responses.”

A program called Space Enterprise Vision is being carried out by the U.S. military and the National Reconnaissance Office, the spy agency that builds and launches U.S.

[Geee]

Obama’s Beijing Policy Faces Criticism on Capitol Hill

 

Experts in Asia studies and maritime law on Wednesday criticized the Obama administration’s approach to Chinese land reclamation on disputed features in the South China Sea and said more needs to be done militarily and diplomatically to deter Beijing.

The administration’s policy toward Beijing has failed to discourage the country from unlawfully asserting sovereignty over islands in the region and has in some ways allowed for China’s actions, experts said in testimony before the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces on Capitol Hill.

Dr. James Kraska, an international law professor at the U.S. Naval War College, said during the hearing that the U.S. government has not called out China for its “unlawful” claims in the South China Sea, which has worked in China’s favor.

“We have to talk plainly about the issues,” Kraska said. “It begins even with the nomenclature that we use for China’s claims, which in the U.S. government we call them ‘excessive’ claims. I would suggest that they’re not excessive claims, they’re unlawful claims. We ought to just speak plainly.”

 

“We should get rid of these euphemisms, which I think raise doubt and ambiguity and play into China’s hands,” Kraska added.

http://freebeacon.com/national-security/obamas-beijing-policy-faces-criticism-capitol-hill/