International Sharp Review | Why did the US go to Argentina to hype up the so-called "space race" between China and the US? Cooperation | Deep Space Station | US side

On the 27th local time, NASA Director Bill Nielsen visited Argentina. At a press conference held in Buenos Aires, the capital of Afghanistan, he listed China's achievements in lunar and fire exploration, claiming that there is a "space race" between China and the United States. This is a Cold War term that Nielsen has brought to Argentina, a popular destination for international space cooperation. No wonder local media commented that Nielsen's trip had a political purpose.

This is not the first time a US high-ranking official has come to Argentina to hype up space issues. In March 2022, when Commander Richardson of the US Southern Command visited Argentina, he directly named the China Arab Cooperation Deep Space Exploration Station located in the province of Neucken, Argentina, slandering it as a military facility. This time, Nielsen came to hype up the so-called "space race", and some analysts believe that an important intention is to provoke and disrupt China Arab space cooperation.

The Neuken Deep Space Station is China's first deep space measurement and control station overseas, officially launched in 2017. It is for the peaceful development and utilization of outer space by both China and Arab countries, and is also open to the international community. At present, many national scientific and technological institutions, including the United States, have used this deep space station for scientific research. Diplomats from multiple countries, including the United States and Europe, have also visited and learned about its civilian nature on site.

The picture shows the Neuken Deep Space Station

However, the cooperation with China and Arab space is closely intertwined with the constant spreading of rumors and instigation by the United States. They claim to be "concerned" about China's establishment of a deep space station in Afghanistan, and that attacking this deep space station has military purposes. Argentina has provided a clear response to this.

In 2019, the Argentine National Public Television produced a documentary where journalists and scientists lived together, documenting their daily work. The journalist who participated in the filming sighed and said that with the Neuken Deep Space Station, Argentina has the conditions to conduct research on previously inaccessible space.

In March 2022, the Minister of Science and Technology Innovation of Argentina, Films, stated that the Neuken Deep Space Station is a facility for our space exploration and satellite cooperation with China, just like we do with Europe. Indeed, the European Space Agency established a deep space station in Argentina as early as 2012, which is approximately 480 kilometers away from the China Argentina cooperation deep space station. People want to ask: Why is the US only targeting the China Arab cooperation deep space station? Isn't this a typical double standard?

In March of this year, Argentine Ambassador to the United States Aguero wrote a letter to US Republican Congressman Salazar, stating that "there is no military infrastructure or presence of countries outside the region within Argentina," firmly refuting her stigmatization of the Neucken Deep Space Station.

Looking deeper, Nielsen's hype this time is a reflection of American hegemony going from heaven to earth. In 2018, the then Vice President of the United States, Pence, declared that the United States would "dominate space like it does Earth.". In 2020, the US Department of Defense released the Space Defense Strategy, declaring that space is a unique "battlefield" and planning to form a space force, showcasing the dominance of "America's number one". In recent years, with the successful advancement of China's multiple space missions, the term "space race" from the Cold War era has frequently appeared in the mouths of the heads of the US aerospace agency.

In April of this year, Nielsen held a photo of the moon at a congressional hearing in the United States and solemnly stated, "If China were to arrive there first, they would say this is our territory and you should not come in.". He also warned that there was not much time left for the United States and called on Congress to support the application to increase the space budget. According to statistics, in the 2023 fiscal year defense budget of the United States, more than $50 billion has been invested in the space field. Among them, approximately $25.4 billion was allocated to NASA, an increase of 5.6% from 2022; Appropriating approximately $26.3 billion for the US space force, an increase of over 40%. The US Space Force's budget application for the fiscal year 2024 reached $30 billion, a 15% increase, making it the largest budget application in the history of the service.

Times have changed, but the United States does not want to change and wants to repeat the script of the Cold War. The whole world will not agree. The United Nations Outer Space Treaty clearly states, "No country can claim sovereignty or jurisdiction over outer space or any part of it, nor can it occupy or exclude others." As the head of the United States aerospace department, Nielsen is not unaware of the "black history" of the United States space program. From creating space debris to provoking an arms race in outer space, the United States poses a huge threat to the peaceful use of outer space.

For China, from the beginning of developing its aerospace industry, it has adhered to the goal of peace. In 2003, China's first astronaut Yang Liwei carried a United Nations flag during a mission and said in both Chinese and English on behalf of China, "Peaceful use of space for the benefit of all mankind." The Chinese space station, which is currently in operation in space, is the first time in history that such a project has been opened to all United Nations member states. These bear witness to China's original intention to explore outer space, which cannot be erased by any attack.

Space is the common home of humanity, not the arena of hegemony. Some people in the United States cannot enter the 21st century physically, and their minds are still stuck in the past. The historical script of the Cold War era should not be repeated, nor will it be repeated.