China wants to conquer space, and Britain is foolishly enabling it

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JIUQUAN, CHINA – MAY 30: A Long March-2F carrier rocket carrying Shenzhou-16 spaceship with three astronauts aboard blasts off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on May 30, 2023 in Jiuquan, Gansu Province of China. (Photo by Zhang Xuan/VCG via Getty Images) ***BESTPIX*** – Zhang Xuan/VCG via Getty Images

China’s launch of a new three-person crew to its orbiting space station, and its announcement of plans to send astronauts to the Moon before the end of the decade, is a highly symbolic moment; a key pillar in Xi Jinping’s ambition to surpass the United States as the world’s leading technological power.

But it is not merely political posturing. Since its inception, China’s space programme has been part of an arms race to overtake US military capabilities, stealing foreign intellectual property (including from Britain) and fast-tracking development.

This aspect of Beijing’s “war beyond boundaries” has been driven forward by the concept of “civil-military fusion” to speed up development through the seamless integration of civilian and military technological progress.

Under this policy, the Chinese Communist Party has ensured that its armed forces, the People’s Liberation Army, are directly involved in all aspects of dual-use technological research, development and industrial application at home and overseas.

This is particularly evident in all areas relating to satellite communications, tracking and guidance systems, rocket design, hypersonic flight and the development of space and lunar stations.

The strategic importance of satellites early on encouraged China to develop anti-satellite capabilities, demonstrated in 2007 when a ground-launched missile was used to destroy a malfunctioning weather observation satellite. Since then other anti-satellite techniques, including jammers and laser weapons, have been developed at pace.

This photo released by Xinhua News Agency shows a screen image captured at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on Tuesday May 30, 2023 of the crews of Shenzhou-15 and Shenzhou-16 taking a group pictures inside the core module Tianhe of China's space station. China launched a new three-person crew for its orbiting space station on Tuesday, with an eye to putting astronauts on the moon before the end of the decade. (Han Qiyang/Xinhua via AP) - Han Qiyang/Xinhua via AP

This photo released by Xinhua News Agency shows a screen image captured at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on Tuesday May 30, 2023 of the crews of Shenzhou-15 and Shenzhou-16 taking a group pictures inside the core module Tianhe of China’s space station. China launched a new three-person crew for its orbiting space station on Tuesday, with an eye to putting astronauts on the moon before the end of the decade. (Han Qiyang/Xinhua via AP) – Han Qiyang/Xinhua via AP

ASPI, the Australian think-tank, judges that China has already become internationally dominant in research directed at defence, security and the space sector. The Mission of the Chinese space programme, published in 2022, includes among its four core objectives “to meet the demands of national security” and “to protect China’s national rights and interests and build up its overall strength”.

This language, including references to “raising the scientific and cultural levels of the Chinese people” closely matches that associated with China’s Centenary Goals and Xi Jinping’s “China Dream”.

From the outset, when Mao’s China first got help from the Soviet Union to develop its missile capabilities to defend against their common US enemy, the West has kept a close track on the nascent Chinese space programme. In 1998, the US Congress claimed that US data given to China for its commercial satellite had been diverted to ICBM applications.

Based on the US government’s assessment that the CCP was intent on projecting its military power into space, NASA scientists have been forbidden to work with PRC counterparts, and PRC visitors are banned from NASA sites.  On the same grounds, a bill was passed in 2011 banning China from the International Space Station.

The development of the independent China Manned Space Programme has long been supported by the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC), owned by the PRC State Council.  They produce spacecraft and launch systems and are also China’s largest missile producer.

First noted in 2011, the PRC has supplied the North Korean nuclear ICBM project with specialised lorries, produced by a CASIC subsidiary, that are now in use as mobile missile launchers and have appeared carrying what seem to be ICBMs at parades in Pyongyang.

The PRC has consistently pursued a policy of projecting its strategic military powers into space. This has been well-documented in regard to the PRC’s Bei Dou global navigation satellite system, completed in 2020 with the launch of its final satellite, which has been described as providing a “definitive competitive edge” for a “China-led world order.”

One of the most important functions of Bei Dou will be augmented by a planned Bei Dou ground station in Antarctica which can be used for military purposes, including as a precision missile tracking station with global range.

Acknowledged PLA involvement in Chinese activity in Antarctica is in breach of international treaty to which China is a signatory. The contract to build the satellite ground system at China’s Zhongshan base has been given to a CASIC subsidiary.

China claims that its space mission is to “facilitate global consensus on our shared responsibility in utilising outer space for peaceful purposes and safeguarding its security for the benefit of all humanity”. But below the high-profiled “tip” revealed in Monday’s announcement of plans for a lunar landing, there is already a vast iceberg of militarised intention and capability.

FILE - China's President Xi Jinping arrives to attend the APEC Economic Leaders Meeting during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, APEC summit, Nov. 19, 2022, in Bangkok, Thailand. China’s ruling Communist Party is calling for beefed-up national security measures, highlighting the risks posed by advances in artificial intelligence. A meeting headed by party leader and President Xi on Tuesday, May 30, 2023, urged “dedicated efforts to safeguard political security and improve the security governance of internet data and artificial intelligence," the official Xinhua News Agency said. (Jack Taylor/Pool Photo via AP, File) - Jack Taylor/Pool Photo via AP

FILE – China’s President Xi Jinping arrives to attend the APEC Economic Leaders Meeting during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, APEC summit, Nov. 19, 2022, in Bangkok, Thailand. China’s ruling Communist Party is calling for beefed-up national security measures, highlighting the risks posed by advances in artificial intelligence. A meeting headed by party leader and President Xi on Tuesday, May 30, 2023, urged “dedicated efforts to safeguard political security and improve the security governance of internet data and artificial intelligence,” the official Xinhua News Agency said. (Jack Taylor/Pool Photo via AP, File) – Jack Taylor/Pool Photo via AP

This is no mere vanity project, but a defiant gesture at America, the CCP’s chosen existential enemy, and its Western collaborators, such as Britain.

Xi Jinping will have chosen this moment to confound Western rivals and underline the resilience of his regime and the economic strength he has at his disposal. If China remains determined to “boldly go” to conquer space – and already has mastery of anti-satellite weapons and hypersonic missiles to boot – then will the West be able to pull together to deter his avowed intent with regard to Taiwan?

There is scope to do better in this regard. The UK Space Agency Corporate Plan 2022-25, based on the National Space Strategy (NSS), coyly refers to “space as a team sport”. From China’s zero-sum perspective it clearly is not; nor is the PRC a “systemic competitor”, in space or anywhere else,  since it obeys no rules and seeks a win-win” only for itself.

The NSS uses similar language to China’s, talking of “protecting and defending our national interests in and through space”. The UK Space Agency will work with MOD to this end.

Apart from that brief statement, there is no detail whatever in the chummily positive Corporate Plan about the threat to peace on Earth posed by China’s well-advanced preparations for war – not even a line about putting a stop to decades of Chinese IP theft from British centres of space-related scientific and technical excellence.

If Downing Street is serious about getting a grip on its responsibility to protect this aspect of our national interests, then tough, visible action is urgently needed to fill not just a policy gap, but a massive vacuum.

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