Opinion Hogging space
As China celebrated the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Peoples Liberation Army Air Force last week,the prospect of a Sino-US arms race in outer space no longer seems remote. In an interview published in the Peoples Liberation Army Daily on November 2,a top Air Force commander Gen. Xu Qiliang had declared that the […]
As China celebrated the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Peoples Liberation Army Air Force last week,the prospect of a Sino-US arms race in outer space no longer seems remote. In an interview published in the Peoples Liberation Army Daily on November 2,a top Air Force commander Gen. Xu Qiliang had declared that the development and deployment of space weapons was inevitable.
As far as the revolution in military affairs is concerned,the competition between military forces is moving towards outer space. This is a historical inevitability and a development that cannot be turned back, Xu said.
The PLA Air Force must establish in a timely manner the concepts of space security,space interests and space development. We must build an outer space force that conforms to the needs of our nations development (and) the demands of the development of the Space Age, Xu argued.
As Gen. Xus remarks reverberated around the world,especially in the United States,the Chinese Foreign Office quickly sought to underplay them by insisting that China has always opposed the weaponisation of outer space and will never participate in an arms race in outer space in any form.
The last word on Chinas peaceful intentions came when President Hu Jintao declared Beijings commitment to the creation of a harmonious space. Those who follow the developments in space technology around the world are inclined to agree more with Xus assessment that outer space is likely to become a contested realm rather than a harmonious one.
A China-US link
As China begins to challenge US supremacy in outer space,the one man who had the rare honour of contributing to the space programmes of both countries died last month. Qian Xuesen,the Chinese rocket scientist who passed away at the age of 98 on October 31 was involved in the design of Americas first ballistic missiles and later became the founder of the Chinese space programme.
As a fresh graduate from Shanghai,Qian won a fellowship to go to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States in 1935. After earning his Ph.D from MIT in 1939,Qian moved on to become a faculty member of the California Institute of Technology. There he became one of the founders of the prestigious Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
It was then that a strange fate caught up with Qian. Accused as a Chinese Communist spy,denied American citizenship and refused the right to travel to China,Qian was detained for nearly five years. He was allowed to go China in 1955 in an exchange with Beijing of American prisoners of war from Korea.
If Americans were overcome by ideological fear to hold onto a rare genius,Communist China could barely believe its luck. Greeted in China as a hero,Qian led Chinas rocket research and designed the missiles for its nuclear weapons programme.
Qians death came paradoxically just before the arrival of US President Barack Obama,who is expected to announce new Sino-US initiatives to promote mutual confidence in outer space.
Into Africa
Although Indias economic engagement with Africa has been growing rapidly,it is way behind Chinas. Indias African trade had grown an impressive six fold over the last six years to reach US$ 36 billion last year. Chinas trade with Africa is growing much faster,ten-fold in the last eight years and has crossed the US$ 100 billion mark in 2008.
At the India-Africa summit last year in Delhi,Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had doubled Indias credit lines to US$5.4 billion for the next five years. At a ministerial meeting of the China-Africa forum on Sunday at Sharm el Sheikh,Egypt,the Chinese premier Wen Jiabao doubled Chinese low-cost loans to US$ 10 billion over the next three years.
Addressing the ministers,Wen addressed head on the allegation that China has come to Africa to plunder its resources and practice neo-colonialism. He insisted that Chinas economic cooperation with Africa is aimed at building local capacity and generating lasting partnerships.
Recent Chinese statements on Africa have underlined a larger military role for Beijing in the continent. At Sharm el Sheikh,Wen declared that his government was prepared to take on a role in the settlement of issues of peace and security.
The writer is Henry A. Kissinger Chair in Foreign Policy and International Relations at the Library of Congress,Washington DC
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