GENEVA, Feb 10 (Reuters) - China on Thursday formally proposed negotiations to conclude a global treaty which would ban the testing, deployment and use of weapons in outer space.
Russia's Ambassador Vasily Sidorov immediately took the floor at the Conference on Disarmament to back the proposal by China's envoy Hu Xiaodi.
Both China and Russia have
forum. He submitted a proposal to set up a committee to launch the talks at the 66-member state body.
"The negotiation and conclusion of an international legal instrument or instruments on the prevention of the weaponization of and an arms race in outer space should be set as the definite direction and ultimate goal of the work of the committee," Hu told the Geneva talks.
"China has always opposed arms races of any kind, including an arms race in outer space. This basic position remains unchanged," he added.
The United States, which is considering whether to build a $12.7 billion national missile defense system it says could intercept missiles fired by "rogue states," is the only member opposed to setting up a negotiating committee, diplomats say.
The U.S. delegation is expected to continue to block the required consensus for decision-taking.
Russia's Sidorov said that "events in recent times" should incite the Conference on Disarmament to act on outer space.
"It is urgent to tackle this problem," he declared.
The Geneva body, the world's only multilateral disarmament forum, has been deadlocked for four years. It has been unable to conduct full-fledged negotiations on any issue since those on the nuclear test ban, which ended in 1996.
There are divisions among the five official nuclear powers -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- and between the five and the developing countries led by India and Pakistan, according to diplomats.
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