China, Russia submit treaty to prevent arms race in outer space  

(ECNS) – China and Russia on Tuesday submitted a draft treaty of a new international legal instrument to prevent an arms race in outer space.

A revised draft of the Treaty on Prevention of the Placement of Weapons in Outer Space and of the Threat or Use of Force Against Outer Space Objects (PPWT) was submitted to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, according to Xinhuanet.

The PPWT was first submitted by China and Russia in 2008, but was rejected by the US as unverifiable.

Wu Haitao, China's ambassador for disarmament affairs, said the new draft supplements and revises some provisions of the PPWT based on the developing situation and opinions from members of the conference.

China and Russia look forward to all members' supports of the draft, and continued perfection of the treaty to lay a foundation for further negotiations, Wu added.

Wu also said that China has been been pushing for prevention of an arms race in outer space, as it would impede the peaceful use of outer space, undermine mutual trust between countries in outer space, break global strategic balance and stability and hamper nuclear disarmament.

He pointed out that the current Outer Space Treaty doesn't prohibit threat of force against "outer space objects," and can't prevent the weaponization of outer space. Under such circumstances, the new international and legally binding treaty is needed, Wu added.