The United States blocked the formation of such a committee, but the Canadians have not been alone in their desire to pursue the formation of such a committee in the pursuit of multilateral treaties. In 1995, the Chinese government published a white paper on arms control and disarmament. In the paper, they clearly stated, "China opposes the arms race in outer space." They went further in discussing the history of their opposition. Since 1984, the paper went on, China has time and again proposed to the United Nations and the Conference on Disarmament resolutions to prevent an arms race in outer space. China maintains that outer space "belongs to all mankind and should be used for peaceful purposes. No country should develop any kind of weapon to be used in outer space: outer space should be kept "weapon free."

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Hyten, John E. A Sea of Peace or a Theater of War: Dealing with the Inevitable Conflict in Space. Urbana-Champaign, IL: Program in Arms Control, Disarmament and International Security, April 2000. [ 8 quotes ] [ page 61 ]