China Lifts Veil on Ambitions for Hegemony in Space

NASA chief says the United States ‘better watch out’

The Yutu-2 moon rover, taken by the Chang'e-4 lunar probe on the far side of the moon on Jan. 11, 2019. China will seek to establish an international lunar base one day, possibly using 3D printing technology to build facilities, the Chinese space agency said on Jan. 14, 2019, weeks after landing the rover on the moon's far side. China National Space Administration/AFP via Getty Images

Commentary

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) does not broadcast its ambitions to achieve hegemony in space in order to enforce its ambitions for hegemony on Earth. Still, it has turned the chairman and Party secretary of its leading space contractor, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), into a major spokesman for gradually revealing the Party’s imperial ambitions in space.