China, Russia call for space weapons ban

China and Russia called for a international ban on weapons in space, including defensive missle shields at the 65-nation Conference on Disarmanment in Geneva on Tuesday, AP reported. The US, which opposes a weapons ban, offered a counter plan that urges countries to agree to halt production of fissile material needed for nuclear weapon production. Neither of the proposals is thought to have any chance of gaining full support of the countries participating in the conference. The Sino-Russian proposal was first raised in 2002, two weeks after the US withdrew from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.