Unease Over china Military-run Space Station in argentina

When China built a military-run space station in Argentina’s Patagonian region it promised to include a visitors’ centre to explain the purpose of its powerful 16-storey antenna.

The centre is now built—behind the eight-foot barbed wire fence that surrounds the space station compound. Visits are by appointment only. Shrouded in secrecy, it has stirred unease among local residents, fuelled conspiracy theories and sparked concerns in the Donald Trump administration about its true purpose. The station’s stated aim is peaceful space observation and exploration. According to Chinese media, it played a key role in China’s landing of a spacecraft on the dark side of the moon in January. But the 200-hectare compound operates with little oversight by the Argentine authorities. President Mauricio Macri’s former Foreign Minister, Susana Malcorra, said that Argentina has no physical oversight of the station’s operations. In 2016, she revised the China space station deal to include a stipulation for civilian use only. The agreement obliges China to inform Argentina of its activities at the station, but provides no enforcement mechanism for authorities to ensure it is not being used for military purposes. China’s space program is run by its military, the People’s Liberation Army. The Patagonian station is managed by the China Satellite Launch and Tracking Control General, which reports to the PLA’S Strategic Support Force. Beijing insists the program is for peaceful purposes and its foreign ministry in a statement stressed the station is for civilian use only. It said the station was open to the public and media. Asked how it ensures the station is not used for military purposes, Argentina’s space agency CONAE said the agreement between the two countries stated their commitment to “peaceful use”. It said radio emissions from the station were monitored, but radio astronomy experts said the Chinese could easily hide illicit data in transmissions or add encrypted channels to the frequencies agreed upon with Argentina. CONAE also said it had no staff permanently based at the station, but they made “periodic” trips there.

The US has long been worried about what it sees as

China’s strategy to “militarize” space, according to one US official, who added there was reason to be sceptical of Beijing’s insistence that the Argentine base was strictly for exploration. “The Patagonia ground station, agreed to in secret by a corrupt and financially vulnerable government a decade ago, is another example of opaque and predatory Chinese dealings that undermine the sovereignty of host nations,” said Garrett Marquis, spokesman for the White House National Security Council. Argentine officials have defended the Chinese station, saying the agreement with China is similar to one signed with the European Space Agency, which built a station in a neighbouring province. Both have 50-year, tax-free leases. Argentine scientists in theory have access to 10% of the antenna time at both stations. The law experts who reviewed the documents said there is one notable difference: ESA is a civilian agency.