China: From the Belt road and Africa, now to the Moon and Shri Lanka

[mayfly13]

Two fascinating pieces of news this week:




"Three Chinese astronauts on Thursday flew to an unfinished space station in China’s first crewed mission since 2016, expanding the country’s already growing near-Earth presence and challenging U.S. leadership in orbital space.

If the ISS (International Space Station, - backed mainly by the United States, Russia, Japan, Europe and Canada - is decommissioned (it may be retired in 2024), China would be the operator of the only active space station. That would potentially give it greater power in shaping future norms and regulations for near-Earth space, which is already teeming with Chinese satellites."

----- Also the moon has many resources – like water ice, helium-3, and titanium –

https://www.reuters.com/world/china...raft-shenzhou-12-historic-mission-2021-06-17/





"On 19 May 2021, the Sri Lankan Parliament approved the ‘Colombo Port City Economic Commission Bill ‘. Hailing it as a source of investment (USD 15 Billion) and employment (200,000 jobs) which will provide a boost to the country’s economy, it refuted The Opposition’s allegations that it compromised the country’s sovereignty and will become a Chinese colony in Sri Lanka.

This will give China an additional 269 hectares of reclaimed seafront off the Colombo port with little oversight from the Sri Lankan government and it could even regulate the movement of people and since any currency will be allowed to be used, the Yuan will be a certainty.

(The other port) Hambantota will have substantial Chinese control. Infact, Sri Lanka has even moved its naval base at Hambantota to Galle. Control of Hambantota port gives China a vantage position in the eastern Indian Ocean to address its Malacca Dilemma.

Sri Lanka occupies a strategic position in the Indo-Pacific.
Its southern tip straddles some of the most critical sea lanes in the world over which most of the trade and almost all of the energy transits to nations east of the Malacca Straits viz China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and many others.


https://www.financialexpress.com/de...nce-in-sri-lanka-and-indias-concerns/2260612/

 

[pecksniff]

How can the Moon have any resources that are worth the expense of retrieving them?

 

[Specula]

How can the Moon have any resources that are worth the expense of retrieving them?

would have to be a side -issue, and returned to earth by small rockets at much less expense, maybe?

 

[mayfly13]

How can the Moon have any resources that are worth the expense of retrieving them?

Sci-fi, isn't it?
This WION clip outlines it so nicely! (see except below)



China's plans to conquer the Moon, Mars and beyond
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vwUUslULSc

"China wants to set up a permanent base there (on the Moob) with Russia
Why do they need a base on the moon? Two reasons

One is space mining.
It is believed that the Moon is rich in silicon iron magnesium calcium aluminium manganese titanium and more. And going by a claim on NASA's website, the moon holds hundreds of billions of dollars worth of untapped resources.
- Plus there are no borders on the moon. On Earth, China is deterred by borders, so there are no rules to govern mining on the moon, which means all these resources are up for grabs. So if China were to set a base there first then mine grab and extract whatever it can and bring it back to earth it could build a monopoly on natural resources.

Is this even possible? Yes it is. And China has already done it last year. In December China successfully completed a mission to the Moon. It's capsule returned with rocks from the Moon; so China has already tested the idea of transporting minerals from the moon

The second reason why China wants a permanent base on the moon is Mars.
The moon can serve as a pit stop a sort of a petrol pump for travel to Mars. The moon has resources like hydrogen and oxygen that can be used to make rocket fuel.
So space travelers can take off from the earth without large supplies of rocket fuel they can then reach the moon refuel and then head towards Mars.:

 

[pecksniff]

Is this even possible? Yes it is. And China has already done it last year. In December China successfully completed a mission to the Moon. It's capsule returned with rocks from the Moon; so China has already tested the idea of transporting minerals from the moon

That cargo cannot possibly have been worth anything near the cost of the mission.