The Shenzhou-19 spaceship carrying three of China’s youngest taikonauts successfully launched and docked with China’s Tiangong space station this week. The mission follows the return of China’s sample-bearing lunar probe from the far side of the moon in June. Both missions have highlighted the momentum of China’s space program, which has instilled pride among the Chinese public, but has generated some expressions of anxiety in the U.S. Brian Spegele and Clarence Leong at The Wall Street Journal described how the Shenzhou mission showcased China’s pride and confidence in its space ambitions:
“It’s not even an exaggeration to say China will be a global power in space by 2030,” said Ye, who helped run China’s first uncrewed mission to orbit the moon and has advised on several others.
[…] Wednesday’s Shenzhou-19 mission, covered extensively in state media, sought to evoke pride in China’s trajectory as many citizens struggle financially in a souring economy.
“I am very lucky to have been born into a great motherland,” mission commander Cai Xuzhe said ahead of the launch.
[…] The mission is another step in the rivalry with the U.S. as the nations employ different strategies in a bid for leadership over the future of space exploration.
[…] “The Chinese are very confident,” said Dean Cheng, a nonresident fellow at the George Washington University Space Policy Institute. “They have every right to be.” [Source]
Mirroring China’s geopolitical strategies toward the U.S. on Earth, its space program has sought to attract support from other countries. China’s National Space Administration announced in June that it had signed cooperation documents with over ten countries and international organizations, and it has increased its space partnerships with countries in the Global South. Meanwhile, such cooperation has excluded the U.S., due in part to a longstanding American law prohibiting direct space research collaboration between the U.S. and China. These divisions manifested in October during this year’s International Astronautical Congress, as China Space Monitor summarized: “China is very much open to engagement with the international space community, but on their own terms,” and “a fair number of [non-Chinese] companies were making it very clear that China is a no-go zone for them, due largely to business with US and other western governments.”
American analysts have argued that Chinese capabilities in space increasingly challenge U.S. space-based strategies to pursue nuclear security and defend satellites. The chief of the U.S. Space Force recently warned about the “mind-boggling” and “threatening” build-up of Chinese military capabilities in space. Farah Master at Reuters reported this week that the Chinese government voiced its criticism of what it presented as Western moves to counter its space program:
China’s state security ministry said foreign spy intelligence agencies have been trying to steal secrets from the country’s space programme as the arms race in space intensifies and emerges as a new “battlefield for military struggle”.
Safeguarding space security had become a key strategy for China’s future survival and development, the ministry said in a post on its official Wechat account on Wednesday. “In recent years, some Western countries have formed space combat forces, exercised space action capabilities and even regarded (China) as a major competitor in the space field,” it said.
Foreign spy intelligence agencies had also conducted remote sensing detection against China through high-precision satellites, intending to observe and steal secrets from China from space.
It did not name any specific countries but said some had “carried out infiltration and stealing activities in China’s aerospace field”. [Source]
Nevertheless, some actors are attempting to bridge the divide between China and the U.S. in space. The Thai government recently approved a move to join the U.S.-led Artemis Accord after signing an agreement to collaborate on China’s planned lunar base, making Thailand the first country to engage in space exploration initiatives with both superpowers. In August, Dan Hart wrote a piece for the New Atlanticist blog outlining steps both the U.S. and China should take to improve cooperation in space, including commitments to support all countries’ astronauts in distress:
Once the rescue working group is formed, further bilateral agreements should be pursued. These could include mutual use of lunar communication and navigation services, as well as agreements on providing consumables, power, habitats, and transport.
What steps does the United States need to take? The United States should repeal the Wolf Amendment, which was put in place in 2011 due to concerns about space technology transfer to China. The establishment of this barrier has not slowed China’s space technology development. Instead, it has only hindered useful interchange between NASA and the CNSA.
And China? Beijing should foster more open communication with the United States regarding norms of behavior in space exploration and the preservation of the space environment. It should take a leading role in space sustainability, including being transparent about its plans to remedy issues with the Long March 6A rocket that broke apart earlier this month and left significant space debris. China should also initiate discussions to join moratoria on destructive direct-ascent anti-satellite missile testing, which it has so far opposed. [Source]
