Commentary: No new "Star Wars" in space

BEIJING, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Moon should not become a new battlefield. Preventing the militarization of space must remain a basic principle as humanity ventures beyond Earth.

The U.S. "Star Wars" program of the 1980s once raised the prospect of an arms race in space. Decades later, that logic is resurfacing in a new form. Washington has acknowledged for the first time that it has deployed weapons in space, while senior U.S. military officials are now talking openly about preparing for combat not only in Earth's orbit but also around the Moon.

Taken together, these developments point to a worrying expansion of military ambitions beyond Earth.

The 1967 Outer Space Treaty was established precisely to prevent outer space from becoming another arena of confrontation. The Cold War-era "Star Wars" program already raised concerns about where military competition could take humanity in space. Today, pushing military preparations toward the Moon risks taking that competition even further.

There is little to be gained by extending the logic of arms rivalry into an environment that humanity is only beginning to explore. More weapons and more military preparations in space would not make the space environment more secure. Instead, they could fuel mistrust, encourage countermeasures and make an arms race harder to contain.

China has consistently called for the peaceful use of outer space and opposed its weaponization, militarization and an arms race. Its recent donation to the United Nations of a lunar soil sample collected by the Chang'e-6 mission from the far side of the Moon offers a tangible example of what space exploration can serve: scientific discovery, multilateral cooperation and the common interests of humanity.

The move also demonstrates China's firm support for the United Nations and multilateralism as well as its responsibility of a major country on the peaceful use of outer space and improving global space governance.

As humanity reaches farther into space, the choice should not be whether military competition can follow. It should be whether the new frontier can remain a place for exploration and cooperation rather than another battlefield.

The "Star Wars" era should serve as a warning, not a blueprint. Space belongs to the future of all humanity, and keeping it peaceful requires not more weapons, but greater responsibility and international cooperation.