China May Place Weapons on the Moon to Counter US and Allies, Expert Warns

A Long March-4C rocket lifts off from the southwestern Xichang launch center carrying the Queqiao ("Magpie Bridge") satellite in Xichang, China's southwestern Sichuan Province, on May 21, 2018. This communications relay satellite allows a rover to send images from the far side of the moon on an unprecedented mission later in 2018. China OUT/AFP via Getty Images

As the United States and China are racing to resume sending astronauts to the moon, China might militarize the lunar surface as Beijing sets to establish a permanent presence there, warns Rick Fisher, senior fellow with the International Assessment and Strategy Center.

“So if the PLA [People’s Liberation Army] is going to the moon, the PLA is very likely going to be bringing military capabilities to the moon. And they'll probably not hesitate to use those military capabilities if there is a conflict with the United States or another country among many that are planning to put assets on the moon,” Fisher told the “China in Focus” program on NTD, the sister media outlet of The Epoch Times.

“China’s space program, its entire space program, is controlled by the People’s Liberation Army and is designed almost entirely to produce dual-use military benefits for the People’s Liberation Army,” he added.

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Limit Access to Resources

In this second moon race, the United States and China will compete for strategic positions and secure access to resources, according to Fisher.

“Space technology has advanced to the point where we can consider accessing the moon both economically and for real profit. We can use water on the moon to produce oxygen and use resources, metals, and other materials, minerals on the moon, to build things, to build an infrastructure, perhaps to build spaceships to go to Mars, or to build large solar energy gathering satellites that will be put in cislunar,” he said.

He expressed concerns that the Chinese regime might try to limit access to the moon’s resource-rich areas from the United States, citing the recent warning from NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.

“NASA director Nelson in an interview ... with Politico, made clear his fears that once China gets to the moon, it will act in an imperialistic manner, it will claim territory and deny access to that territory to others,” the expert said.

Nelson sounded the alarm about Beijing’s misconduct, citing China’s actions in the South China Sea, a contested region where the communist regime has unlawfully constructed a network of artificial islands with military installations.

Push Back Threats

Fisher pointed to the Outer Space Treaty as a guide to behavior on the moon, as both China and the United States are signatories.

“But China has a very poor record of adhering to agreements even if it signed on to those agreements, even if it ratified agreements. So any Chinese statement or agreement that it does not intend to militarize the moon has to be taken with deep skepticism,” he noted.

Thus, he called on the United States to be very careful and keep track of China’s activities on the moon.

“And we have every right to expect that China will be transparent about its activities on the moon,” Fisher said.

He urged Washington to encourage more countries to sign on to the Artemis Accords, initiated under the Trump administration, seeking to establish a common framework to guide responsible space exploration.

Up to now, at least 21 countries have been part of the treaty, but China has refused to join.

“Based on resource extraction on the moon energy generation, we should encourage as many countries as possible to sign on to the Artemis Accords and join all of the other countries that have pledged to a program of peaceful behavior,” Fisher said.

“That would be our first defense if you will have a peaceful future for the moon,” he added.

“But secondly, we should also be prepared. We should have in reserve the means to send to the moon equipment that could defend our people and the means to identify quickly what China is doing on the moon should we detect any placement of weapons.”

Fisher pointed out that it is “critically important for the United States to sustain funding for its moon program” despite any threat on Earth imposed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), such as launching an invasion against Taiwan or India.

In 2010, then-President Barack Obama canceled former President George W. Bush’s Constellation moon program.

“Because the Chinese Communist Party’s plan for hegemony on Earth requires hegemony in space. And if the United States were to cancel its moon program again, as did President Obama, we would be, in short, helping to ensure that China gains hegemony on Earth by helping it to gain hegemony in space,” Fisher said.