That's Strike Two For China's Space Program
It seems the whole world
is stingy with China when it comes to sensitive space
technology. Just a few months after a polite refusal from NASA
administrator Michael Griffin to share NASA technology with China,
Anatoly Perminov, chief of Russia's Federal Space Agency, says
don't ask Russia either.
China's budding space program -- the official governmental
agency is the China National Space Administration (CNSA) --
has been around a number of years, but technologically it remains
in its infancy. The country just launched its first manned missions
in 2003 with technology purchased from Russia.
"The Chinese are still some 30 years behind us, but their space
program has been developing very fast," Perminov said at a news
conference. "They are quickly catching up with us."
Much like the US, Russia has agreed in principal to cooperate
with CNSA on some space projects, including China's planned robotic mission to the
moon, but will maintain the former Soviet country's
restrictions on sharing technology.
"We aren't transferring any technologies to China now," Perminov
said. "This issue has been under special control of the
government."
China's immense population and relative poverty (based on Gross
Domestic Product) has limited expenditures on programs not directly
related to building infrastructure or what it saw as national
security. In fact, China was (and remains) one of the top
customers for Russia's weapons manufacturers. It buys jets,
missiles, submarines and other naval vessels.
Now, an exploding economy is allowing China to expand spending
on its space program in recent years. So much so, according to the
Associated Press, Russia's politicians now believe China's space
program is better funded than Russia's.
This has fueled fears of competition from its former ally in
theory, if not in fact. The former soviet Russia's relationship
with communist China had historically stopped at cooperation in
thwarting US interests -- the two countries had always remained
distrustful of each other.
Since the collapse of the former Soviet Union in 1991, the pair
have developed a strategic partnership in adhering to what they
call a "multipolar world," referring to their pledge in opposition
to a perceived US world domination -- a sort of
the-enemy-of-my-enemy-is-my-friend mindset.
Apparently, though, that kind of alliance isn't the sort which
would allow Russia to overcome an innate distrust of its old
communist rival.