China accuses US of militarizing space following protest over Navy plane’s Taiwan Strait transit

BEIJING (AP) — Amid a freeze in military-to-military contacts, China is accusing the United States of militarizing outer space, a day after it protested the passage of a Navy P-8A Poseidon anti-submarine aircraft through the Taiwan Strait. The Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson said on Friday that U.S. actions, including the establishment of the Space Force in 2019 as the newest branch of the military, have “had a great negative impact on space security and global strategic stability” and that the U.S. has accelerated the militarization of space. On Thursday, China’s Eastern Theater Command said it had scrambled fighters to “follow and monitor the U.S. plane throughout the process, and dealt with it in accordance with laws and regulations.”