China warns that U.S. orbital weapons could accelerate an arms race.

China urged the United States to stop expanding its military presence in space after U.S. Air Force Secretary Troy Meink acknowledged that the country had on-orbit space-control weapons. Meink did not identify the systems or disclose operational details.

Reuters reported that China’s foreign ministry opposed turning space into a war zone and warned that the disclosure could intensify an arms race. The public exchange confirms a sharper geopolitical debate, but it does not establish what the U.S. systems are capable of or how many are deployed.