Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson on Wednesday said the US' "golden Dome" missile defense system will heighten the risk of turning space into a war zone and creating a space arms race.

When asked to comment on reports that the US released details of the "Golden Dome" missile defense system on Tuesday, with $25 billion allocation and reportedly to be done in three years, consisting "next-generation" technologies across land, sea and space, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Wednesday that"Golden Dome" intends to create an unconstrained, global, multi-layer and multi-domain missile defense system. It plans to expand the US arsenal of means for combat operations in outer space, including R&D and deployment of orbital interception systems. That gives the project a strong offensive nature and violates the principle of peaceful use in the Outer Space Treaty. The project will heighten the risk of turning the space into a war zone and creating a space arms race, and shake the international security and arms control system, Mao said.

According to Reuters, US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he had selected a design for Golden Dome missile defense shield and named a Space Force general to head the program.

The program aims to create a network of satellites, perhaps numbering in the hundreds, to detect, track and potentially intercept incoming missiles, per Reuters report.

This is yet another "America First" initiative that puts the US' absolute security above all else. It violates the principle of "undiminished security for all" and will hurt global strategic balance and stability. China is gravely concerned, Mao said.

We urge the US to give up developing and deploying global anti-missile system, and take concrete actions to enhance strategic trust between major countries and uphold global strategic stability, Mao said. 

The US Golden Dome missile defense shield will be a violation of the international consensus on keeping space free of military conflict and could inevitably trigger a new arms race in outer space, a Chinese expert said.

The Defense News reported Wednesday that the House GOP included $25 billion for the project in its budget reconciliation package for fiscal 2025 — a number that Trump referenced and validated in his remarks Tuesday.

"We'll have it done in three years," Trump told reporters as he detailed the plan in the Oval Office on Tuesday, CNN reported.

China and Russia in early May released a joint statement on global strategic stability, which said that the recently announced "Golden Dome" plan of the US openly proposed a significant increase in outer space combat means, including the development and deployment of orbital interception systems, weaponizing outer space and turning it into a large-scale armed confrontation site, which made the situation even worse, said the document.

The plan aims to build a global, multi-level and multi-domain missile defense system that is not subject to any constraints to resist various missile threats, including those from "evenly matched" opponents, said the statement, adding that it also causes serious damage to strategic stability.

In essence, the Golden Dome is a deliberate attempt by the US to establish new global military superiority through a dual-offensive-and-defensive space-based system, Song Zhongping, a Chinese military affairs expert, told the Global Times on Wednesday. Such actions will be a blatant violation of the international consensus on keeping space free of weapons and military conflict, and could inevitably trigger a new arms race in outer space, Song warned.

Reuters report claimed that the Golden Dome aims at blocking "threats" from China and Russia.

Given that China and Russia have long advocated for the peaceful, non-military use of outer space, the question of who is fueling the militarization of space and instigating an arms race is abundantly clear: Washington's actions represent a dangerous escalation aimed at entrenching its military hegemony, Song said. 

China and Russia oppose the attempts of individual countries to use outer space for armed confrontation, and reject the implementation of security policies and activities aimed at gaining military superiority and defining outer space and using it as a "war-fighting domain," read the joint statement on global strategic stability.

When responding to the US' "Golden Dome" plan, Wu Qian, a spokesperson at the Chinese Ministry of National Defense said at a regular press conference in February 2025 that "What the US needs is not an Iron Dome, but coming out of the Iron Curtain that has confined its own mindset. The Chinese side requests the US side to abandon its Cold-War mentality, stop playing up the so-called threats of other countries, and stop provoking military confrontation."

According to Reuters, US president said the defense shield, which would cost some $175 billion, should be operational by the end of his term in January 2029, but industry experts were also suspicious of that timeframe and the cost. This month, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that Golden Dome could cost as much as $831 billion over two decades.

"Technically, the Golden Dome's plan far exceeds even Ronald Reagan's 'Star Wars'program in scope, yet its proposed $175 billion budget is grossly inadequate—likely a fraction of the actual cost," Song said. 

The pursuit of "space dominance" as a strategic high ground exposes America's true motives, the expert said.