China’s military, state media slam US after Reuters report on SpaceX spy satellites
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
SpaceX’s Starshield unit is developing the satellite network under a classified US$1.8 billion (S$2.4 billion) contract.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
BEIJING - Chinese military and state-run media on March 17 accused the United States of threatening global security, days after a Reuters report which found Mr Elon Musk’s SpaceX was building hundreds of spy satellites for a US intelligence agency.
SpaceX’s Starshield unit is developing the satellite network
A social media account run by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) said the SpaceX programme exposed the “shamelessness and double standards” of the US as Washington accuses Chinese tech companies of threatening American security.
“We urge US companies to not help a villain do evil,” Junzhengping, an account run by the PLA, posted on social media platform Weibo on March 17. The account has 1.1 million followers.
“All countries worldwide should be vigilant and protect against new and even bigger security threats created by the US government,” the post said.
Mr Wang Yanan, chief editor of Aerospace Knowledge, a magazine overseen by the ruling Communist Party, was quoted in an interview as saying the SpaceX satellite project posed “a challenge to global security and stability”.
“The United States’ high-profile intelligence reconnaissance of countries or regions it is concerned about will inevitably cause some hot issues to become more sensitive or even escalate,” Mr Wang told The Global Times, a Chinese state-controlled newspaper, in an interview published on March 17.
Mr Musk’s other firms include electric vehicle maker Tesla, which has a large manufacturing presence in China. Neither Junzhengping nor the Global Times mentioned Mr Musk or Tesla.
In response to the Reuters story, the NRO acknowledged its mission to develop space-based surveillance systems, but declined to comment on the extent of SpaceX’s involvement.
SpaceX, the world’s largest satellite operator, did not respond to several requests for comment about the contract.
The planned Starshield network is separate from Starlink, SpaceX’s growing commercial broadband constellation that has about 5,500 satellites in space to provide near-global Internet to consumers, companies and government agencies.
Researchers in the PLA have over the past two years studied the deployment of Starlink in the war in Ukraine and repeatedly warned about the risks it poses to China.
China has said it also plans to start building its own satellite constellations.
Space X, NRO and the Pentagon did not respond to requests for comment on China’s reaction to the contract. REUTERS
