Remember when the Bush administration announced that "space supremacy" was the official goal of the United States military? The Obama administration came into office promising to cool the rhetoric and work through multilateral institutions to oppose various agreements that would prevent the militarization of space -- space supremacy was out, space partnerships are in. Except the ChiComs are actually serious about global hegemony, and they aim to dominate and militarize space regardless of any "strategic reassurance" (aka appeasement) pursued by this administration:
A top China air force commander has called the militarisation of space an "historical inevitability", state media said Monday, marking an apparent shift in Beijing's opposition to weaponising outer space....
"We must build an outer space force that conforms with the needs of our nation's development (and) the demands of the development of the space age."
Superiority in outer space can give a nation control over war zones both on land and at sea, while also offering a strategic advantage, Xu said, noting that such dominance was necessary to safeguard the nation.
"Only power can protect peace," the 59-year-old commander said in the interview given to coincide with this month's 60th anniversary of the founding of the PLA air force.
The man is right, but no one believes that the Chinese are accruing this power for the sake of peace. The question is, what will the Obama administration do to make sure that it is we, and not the Red Chinese, who win the race to dominate space?
