China’s tussle with SpaceX founder Elon Musk has spilled over as the Asian country reached out to United States authorities and asked for boosted protection for its space station, which currently has three crew members. Beijing complained that a SpaceX vessel nearly struck the station.

According to reports from Associated Press, a spokesperson from the Chinese foreign ministry on Tuesday said the United States has disregarded its obligations under the 1967 treaty on the peaceful use of space, which has been officially tagged as the Outer Space Treaty.

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The Tiangong, China’s first long-term space station, was forced to perform “evasive maneuvers” in order to “prevent a potential collision” with Starlink satellites, which have been launched by Elon Musk’s SpaceX. China officially registered a complaint linked to the matter at the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.

The United States should “take immediate measures to prevent such incidents from happening again,” said the spokesman, Zhao Lijian.

The Chinese spokesperson accused Washington of failing to carry out its obligations to “protect the safety of astronauts” under a 1967 treaty on the peaceful use of space, according to reports from Associated Press.

The first module of the Tiangong was launched in April. Its first crew returned to Earth in September following a 90-day mission. The second crew of two men and one woman arrived on October 16 for a six-month mission.

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The news comes nearly a month after NASA locked horns with Russian space agency Roscosmos for blowing up an old satellite in earth’s orbit, sending out at least 1,700 pieces of space junk big enough to track, which came in close proximity with the International Space Station.

A spacewalk at the International Space Station was called off by NASA earlier this month after experts concluded that a shard of space junk may be dangerous for the station and the astronauts.