China Shoots for Space in Latin America

   China Shoots for Space 

        in Latin America

St. Croix Times Staff

     China’s continued efforts to establish infrastructure in Latin America are sounding alarms all over the Pentagon. The country of nearly 1.5 billion has set its sight on America’s doorstep to build space infrastructure for reasons that are yet unknown or reasons that are not being publicly disclosed. 

     “So right now there’s 10 PRC (People’s Republic of China) linked space sites across 5 countries in the region,” U.S. Navy four-star Admiral Alvin Holsey stated. He went on to list their functions that included space object surveillance and identification, and telemetry services, tracking and control sites, both important installations for military space operations.

     “Why is that?,” Adm. Holsey wondered. “This region has become second only to mainland China for space and labor infrastructure. So I have to make sure as a combatant commander, what does that mean in the future.”

     The United States and China are competing in space on multiple levels with implications for potential future conflicts as they build out communications, surveillance and guidance systems. 

     The world’s biggest rival powers are also both leading projects to land people on the Moon and establish colonies as a stepping stone to eventual colonization of Mars. 

     Admiral Holsey said that the U.S. project SouthCom would soon establish its own Space South command. SouthCom is scheduled to come on board in the near future as part of the newest component of the military called the U.S. Space Force. It is to be based at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona.

     America’s Moon project, led by NASA, is called Artemis, and China, with its de facto ally Russia, is heading up a project called the International Lunar Research Station. The PRC and Russia plan to build a nuclear power plant on the Moon. 

     “China saw an unchecked opportunity in Latin America and is making fast progress spreading its influence, making it a major challenge to the U.S. in the region,” Adm. Holsey admitted.     

     China recently opened a Megaport in Peru where China’s President Xi Jinping himself attended the inauguration of the Chancay Port on the Peruvian Coast, an indication of how serious China takes the development of an important outpost in Latin America. 

     “And the big point is, there’s a lot of PRC China space and labor infrastructure in the region, and our partners want to know more about it, and I want to know more about it as well, “ the Admiral said at the recent 10th Annual Hemispheric Security Conference.

        Close sources to the situation have disclosed that it has been America’s continued distancing over Latin America’s  multitude of civil unrest problems in recent decades that has caused one of our closest neighbors to open its arms to China’s deep pockets and willingness to invest heavily in the economically depressed region.