China has refuted a warning from NASA’s Administrator Bill Nelson that China might “take over the Moon” as part of a military programme. On July 4, China said it has always called for the building of a community of nations in outer space, and called NASA’s warning a part of a “smear campaign”, news agency Reuters reported.
In the past decade, China has stepped up the pace of its space programme, with a special focus on lunar exploration. In 2013, China made its first lunar uncrewed landing. The country expects to launch rockets powerful enough to send astronauts to the Moon towards the end of this decade.
NASA Chief Said China’s Space Programme Was A Military One
“We must be very concerned that China is landing on the Moon and saying: ‘It’s ours now and you stay out’,” a Reuters report quoted Nelson as telling German newspaper Bild in a recent interview.
The NASA Chief stated that China’s space programme was a military one and that the country had stolen ideas and technology from others.
NASA Has Ignored Facts And Spoken Irresponsibly About China: Chinese Foreign Ministry
Zhao Lijan, a spokesman at the Chinese foreign ministry, said this is not the first time that the head of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration has “ignored the facts and spoken irresponsibly about China”.
Quoting Lijan, the report said the US side has constantly constructed a “smear campaign” against China’s normal and reasonable outer space endeavours, and that China firmly opposes such “irresponsible remarks”.
Lijan added that China has always promoted the building of a shared future for humanity in outer space and opposed its weaponisation and any arms race in space.
As part of its Artemis Program, NASA plans to send the first woman and first person of colour to the Moon by 2025.
Meanwhile, China plans to send uncrewed missions to the lunar south pole by the end of this decade.