By Dean Cheng

Testimony before Subcommittee on Space
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology

U.S. House of Representatives

September 27, 2016

Subcommittee Chairman Babin, Ranking Member Edwards, and Members of the House Subcommittee on Space. My name is Dean Cheng, and I am the Senior Research Fellow for Chinese political and security affairs with The Heritage Foundation. The views I express in this testimony are my own and should not be construed as representing any official position of The Heritage Foundation.

My comments today will be about the evolving Chinese views on space operations, with a particular focus on Chinese military thinking.

It is important to first recognize that the United States and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) are not in a “space race,” as was the case between the United States and the Soviet Union from 1957 through at least 1969. The Chinese are not competing with the United States to set new “firsts.” Instead, the PRC is pursuing a methodical program of space exploitation, building upon both its own experiences, and those of the United States, the Soviet Union, Russia, and Europe.

Where there is a clear competition, however, is in the arena of military space.

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has been a close observer of other nations’ wars. Since the early 1990s, Chinese military analysts have carefully analyzed such conflicts as the first Gulf War (Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm), the NATO intervention in the Balkans, the American invasion of Afghanistan, the 2003 Iraq War, as well as earlier conflicts such as the 1973 Arab–Israeli War and the 1982 Falklands conflict. more at : http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2016/09/us-china-competition-in-space