China’s ties with Russia are growing more solid
China’s ties with Russia are growing more solid
Our columnist visits a future Russian outpost in China’s most advanced spaceport
Russia, has been invited to open a branch in Wenchang with room for 10,000 students of aerospace engineering. The prime site is evidence that space co-operation, is surging ahead.
Examples abound in a study published by a research arm of the USAF. The study details Russia’s willingness to help China build missile-warning/defence systems, and to sell it advanced rocket engines. With agreements to link up, Beidou and Glonass. The two countries have pledged to build a base on the Moon and to work together on detecting space debris—(useful for tracking an adversary’s satellites). The study quotes Xi Jinping, linking technical co-operation with Russia to plans for “the reform of the global governance system” (ie, pushing America from centre stage).
China wants to harness Russia’s decades of expertise in space. Russia’s space programme needs China’s money. It has also wanted access to Chinese components.