China asked the US to release data on the shootdown of an ailing spy satellite, while the Communist Party's newspaper blasted what it called Washington's callous attitude toward the weaponization of space,an Associated Press report said.
The Associated Press report quoted Defense Secretary Robert Gates as saying that the US is determined to be open about the US operation and told reporters during a visit to Hawaii that 'we are prepared to share whatever appropriately we can.'
Earlier, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said Beijing was asking the US to 'provide to the international community necessary information and relevant data in a timely and prompt way,' the report said.
And the overseas edition of People's Daily excoriated Washington for opposing a recent Russian-Chinese proposal on demilitarizing space, the report added.
Washington has rejected the Russian-Chinese proposal for a global ban on space arms because it would prohibit an American missile interceptor system in the Czech Republic and Poland, while exempting Chinese and Russian ground-based missiles that can fire into space, the report said.
China's official Xinhua News Agency reported the satellite downing without comment, while a Defense Ministry spokesman, who identified himself only by his surname, Ji, said no statement on the issue would be forthcoming.
China's objections signal its skepticism over whether the satellite downing was truly necessary and unease over apparent US mastery of a key military technology that Beijing is also pursuing, the report further said.