The US denies the operation was a response to an anti-satellite test carried out by China last year, which prompted fears of a space arms race.

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Advocates of this hardy arms control perennial have already seized on the Chinese ASAT test to warn anew that the Bush National Space Policy is evidence of the dreaded U.S. "unilateralism" that must be stopped lest it precipitate an arms race in space.

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Third, the rivalry with Russia played out mainly in technology spheres such as the arms race and the space race.

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China's concern was that the American missile defence system would lead to increasing use of space for military purposes and fuel an arms race.

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