by Asad Mirza
Most countries around the world, whether large or small, developed or developing, pursue a space program on their own or in collaboration with advanced countries. Most aspects of these programs are in the public domain and are aimed at scientific and humanitarian advancement.
The ghost of a space between the US and Russia ended with the signing of the START treaty between the two in 1991. However, China has emerged as a country that follows a very secret space program and could force mankind into a space war and global domination.
There is ample evidence to suggest that China’s space program is aimed at advancing and using space to dominate not only the US but the rest of the planet. China’s space capabilities have been defined as one of the most significant future threats to global peace, in the context of US national security, and to the rest of the world as well.
China’s plans were very clearly outlined when, shortly after becoming president in March 2013, Xi Jinping made his ambitions for China’s space power very clear. “Developing the space program and transforming the country into a space power is the dream of space which we have continuously pursued”, he said.
“The dream of space is part of the dream of making China stronger.”
China aims to become the world’s leading space power by 2045. In a 2017 editorial, the China Daily stated: “China will become a worldwide leader in space equipment and technology. By 2045, it will be capable of large-scale human-computer coordinated space exploration.
America’s concern
The progress and covert dimension of the Chinese space program has been duly noted and concerns have been expressed by the United States in this regard. The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission said in its 2019 annual report to Congress that “China is taking steps to establish a commanding position in the commercial launch and satellite sectors, following aggressive state-backed attacks from Western market-driven companies.” Depends on financing. Cannot match”.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin declared in his written testimony ahead of his confirmation hearing in January 2021 that Chinese and Russian space activities present a serious and growing threat to US national security interests. Chinese and Russian military doctrine also indicates that they view space as critical to modern warfare and consider the use of counter-space capabilities to reduce US military effectiveness and win future wars.
A Pentagon report in 2020 said that despite public stances against space armament, the PRC continues to strengthen its military space capabilities…. The PRC is developing satellite jammer-like electronic warfare capability…. And China probably wants to pursue additional anti-satellite weapons capable of destroying satellites.
Chinese space program
An important aspect of China’s space initiative is the Beidou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), a global navigation satellite system that provides position, navigation and timing in addition to data communications. The Chinese military has developed a program not to depend on the US-controlled GPS network. A report from the Jamestown Foundation states: “In recent years, the PRC has actively sought to promote Beidou’s image as a civilian-led program for commercial and scientific purposes, however, the program is not a military organization overall. In the direction in which in charge of the development of the People’s Liberation Army Beidou.
Beidou can also be called China’s “Space Silk Road”, expanding China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and its land-based and sea-based versions into space. Beidou makes the countries participating in the BRI dependent on China for precise navigation and other space-based services.
Malcolm Davis of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute wrote in 2017 that, “Chinese provisions for satellite communications, weather monitoring and Earth observation add to this vision for a Space Silk Road that ends and underpins the Belt and Road Initiative. By signing the BRI ‘Space Information Corridor’, BRI states will become dependent on space services provided by China. This will give Beijing more power to influence the policy choices of those states, as it will control critical space capabilities that affect their economic sustain development”.
We have already seen the negative impact on countries like Sri Lanka and Brazil, which participated in the land and sea editions of the BRI.
The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission in its 2019 annual report cautioned thus, “Beijing has specific plans not only to explore space, but to industrially dominate space…. Beijing has its own Uses its space program to advance terrestrial geopolitical objectives, including cultivating clients for the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)…based services”.
China’s “Space Silk Road” is a very important part of its ambitious space goals. The commission’s report further noted that China has already succeeded in reducing some US and other foreign launch and satellite providers in the international market, threatening to hollow out these countries’ space industrial bases.. The aggressive pursuit of foreign technology and talent … continues to be central to this strategy and to China’s space development goals in general.
China’s Moon Program
In 2019, The China Daily reported that “the next step in China’s manned space program will be manned exploration of the Moon. We will establish a base on the Moon to conduct scientific operations, expand a habitable space for mankind and beyond.” Will gain experience and expertise for deep space missions. The long-term goal is to send humans to Mars.”
Another worrying development is China’s cooperation with Russia in this regard. In March, China signed an agreement to work together with Russia to build a research center on the Moon, which would research the exploration and, importantly, the uses of the Moon. Already in 2013, China launched its first lunar rover to explore the surface of the Moon, hoping to discover, among other things, rare earth minerals that are abundant on the Moon. China’s Chang’e 5 lunar probe mission landed on the Moon and brought back geological samples to China, becoming the third country after the US and Russia to do so.
Given these developments, it is a foregone conclusion that China will proceed to use space to dominate not only the US but the rest of the world. Its plans for future wars are space-based, apart from using its large stockpile of surface-to-air missiles, ballistic and cruise missiles – which can strike from 500 to 5,500 km, thus Without covering a large part of the world. Soldiers’ boots on foreign soil and it may not really have been well portrayed.
(Asad Mirza is a political commentator based in New Delhi. He writes on Muslims, Educational, International Affairs, Inter-religious and Contemporary Affairs. Views expressed are personal)
Source: IANS