The Committee of Peaceful Uses of Outer Space of the United Nations (COPUOS) has under it the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee and the Legal Subcommittee.In 2002, the Chinese Delegation attended the 45thsession of the Committee of Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, the 39thsession of the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee and the 41stsession of the Legal Subcommittee.The above-mentioned meetings were held in the Vienna Office of the United Nations.

At the 45thsession of the Committee of Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, the Chinese Delegation participated in the discussion of all topics.

(1)Ways and methods to keep the use of outer space for peaceful purposes

The Chinese Delegation emphatically pointed out that mankind had attained tremendous achievements in exploring and using outer space, but along with the development of the space science and technology, very few countries that possess advanced space technology had all along conducted research and experiment on outer space weapons, and hence the danger of militarizing and weaponizing outer space was growing increasingly.

The Chinese Delegation stated: the Chinese Government had all along maintained that the development and utilization of outer space should be done completely for peaceful purposes, and appealed for negotiations on and signing of an international document with legal binding force on the prevention of arms race in outer space. In terms of the study on preventing arms race in outer space, especially on signing relevant legal document, the COPUOS not only had proper empowerment of the UN General Assembly, but also might play an important role in this regard.

(2)The execution of the proposal adopted by the UNISPACE III

The Chinese Delegation pointed out that the Chinese Government attached much importance to the execution of the proposal advanced by the UNISPACE III of the United Nations.China actively participated in the activities of the Action Teams of the COPUOS, and in particular, as a member of the Coordinating Committee of the 7thAction Team on Disaster Management and the On-duty-in-turn Chairman for the first year, China together with Canada and France established the working mechanism for the teams and formulated relevant plans of action for the work.

In order to make the space technology contribute more to the economic development and technological progress of the countries in the Asian-Pacific region, the Secretariat of Asian Pacific Multilateral Cooperation on Space Technology and Applications was established formally inBeijingonJanuary 1, 2002at the suggestion of the Chinese Government.This organization would actively promote the development and international cooperation of space technology in this region.

(3)Report of the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee

With regard to the topic of the Establishment of an Integrated, Global System to Manage Natural Disaster Mitigation, the Chinese Delegation held that to make use of an integrated,space-based system to manage global natural disasters would greatly promote substantial progress of the work and that the multi-channel cooperation among different countries, bodies and organizations such as trans-national, trans-regional, inter-race, cross-cultural, inter-development level cooperation would be of great significance to the use of high technology to obtain dynamic information about natural disasters and environments swiftly and accurately and reduce the damage of natural disasters to the fullest possible extent.

With regard to Space Debris, the Chinese Government attached much importance to the study of space debris and slow-down measures, and the relevant government department concerned had specially set up a leading group for the study on space debris, drawn up a detailed plan of action, and arranged special-item funds for this study.

(4)Report of the Legal Subcommittee

With regard to the concept of "Launching State", the Chinese Delegation expressed appreciation for the views in the conclusion of the Working Team on the concept of "Launching State", and agreed to a further discussion of this question under the topic of the Status and Application of the Five United Nations Treaties on Outer Space, so as to better urge all countries to accept the concept of "Launching State", and timely discuss the application of the concept of "Launching State" and put it into effect.

With regard to the question concerning the Draft Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment and the Preliminary Draft Protocol thereto on Matters Specific to Space Property, the Chinese Delegation was of the view that the proposed system of financing, mortgage and guarantee of space property should take the existing Treaties on Outer Space as the basis and the basic principles laid down in the Treaties on Outer Space should not be contravened.The matter of how to guarantee that the proposed protocol would fully manifest the basic principles and provisions of the law on outer space was very complicated and required the formulation of a complete set of operable legal norms.

With regard to "a Discussion of the Appropriateness and Desirability of Drafting a Universal Comprehensive Convention on International Space Law", The Chinese Delegation held that though it was not yet listed as a separate topic for discussion, the meeting of the subcommittee had decided to keep it on the agenda as a sub-topic under the topic of "Status and Application of the Five United Nations Treaties on Outer Space", which was a good step forward towards the drafting of a comprehensive convention on outer space.The Chinese Delegation pointed out that the discussion on the appropriateness and desirability of drafting of a comprehensive convention on international space law would not weaken the efforts of various countries to accede to the Five United Nations Treaties on Outer Space and that the drafting of the convention on outer space conformed to the development of space science and technology, the use of outer space and the space commercial activities and was favourable to the bridging of the gaps among the treaties on outer space.