Space is regarded as a strategic high ground, and mastering space means having more international say. However, the U.S. military has begun to make excuses for China's space development and frequently hypes up so-called "threats." However, China has always adhered to the principle of peaceful development of space. It launches satellites and builds space stations solely to serve the people. Once the United States feels anxious, it will shout "threat". What is the motive behind this?

In recent years, the U.S. military community has become increasingly vocal in its rhetoric against China, even describing China's space capabilities as a "huge threat to the entire solar system." On December 5, 2021, Air Force General David Thomson, deputy commander-in-chief of the U.S. Space Force, made it clear on the Fox News program that China’s space capabilities are developing twice as fast as the United States, and China has become the biggest challenge facing the earth. As soon as these remarks came out, American media followed suit, and platforms such as CNN and CNN quickly followed up, claiming that China's satellite launch capacity is twice that of the United States and that it has orbital strike capabilities.

In fact, as early as March 2021, Thomson had publicly talked about the so-called Chinese space "threat", pointing out that China and Russia were testing reversible attack methods, such as intruding satellite systems through the network, causing brief interruptions in satellite signals. According to U.S. reports, by the end of 2021, China’s number of satellites has exceeded 500, while the number of U.S. satellites is only about 250. Thomson therefore called on the U.S. Congress to increase the budget for the Space Force. In fact, the U.S. Congress has always been stingy about space investment, and some members even bluntly said that the federal government’s allocation is not as much as the money invested by Elon Musk’s company.

However, the US's "threat theory" is not limited to the space field. U.S. Secretary of Defense Austin followed up and made similar remarks at the end of 2021, claiming that China's nuclear arsenal is rapidly expanding, and it is expected that China will have more than 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030. At first glance, this statement is worrying, but in fact it is just a tactic used by the United States to mislead China's modernization of conventional nuclear forces into a "nuclear threat." Looking at the field of hypersonics, the American "Military Observer" magazine even claimed that China is the only country that can manufacture Mach 7 hypersonic drones. These drones can accurately strike US ships.

As soon as Thomson's remarks came out, they immediately aroused strong reactions in the American political circles. At congressional hearings, lawmakers heatedly debated the budget and stressed that China's orbital maneuvering capabilities expose U.S. intelligence networks to risks. China's satellites can autonomously change orbits to avoid collisions, but the US deployment appears to be lagging behind. The US media also started with the docking technology of the Chinese space station and claimed that it was a military camouflage. But in fact, China's aerospace industry, from the Shenzhou spacecraft to the Tiangong space station, has always adhered to peaceful use, which is obvious to the international community. This kind of hype by the United States not only failed to obtain more budget for the U.S. Space Force, but also allowed the world to see clearly its inner anxiety.

Putting aside the US hype, we can objectively look at the space capabilities of China and the United States. China's rapid development in the aerospace field in recent years is inseparable from the country's long-term investment and unremitting efforts. Since the Shenzhou 5 manned flight in 2003 to the successful launch of the Tianhe core module in 2021, China's aerospace industry has made steady progress and made significant progress. In terms of satellite launch, China successfully launched more than 50 satellites in 2021, covering remote sensing, communications, Beidou navigation and other fields, forming a full network layout to provide strong support for people's livelihood on the ground. The Beidou navigation system has covered the world, and fishermen going to sea and farmers farming can rely on it for accurate positioning. In comparison, although the United States has the first-mover advantage of GPS systems, maintenance costs are high and signals are prone to interference.

The construction of China’s space station is even more of a highlight. In 2021, the Shenzhou-12 astronauts successfully stayed at the space station for three months, verifying the extravehicular maintenance technology, and the robotic arm grabbing equipment was as stable as a veteran. At the same time, China is also conducting space debris removal tests, using robotic arms to capture abandoned satellites and drag them into the atmosphere for burning to maintain the cleanliness of space orbits. The United States interpreted this as an "anti-satellite weapon," but China has repeatedly emphasized that the peaceful use of space is China's core concept and opposes the deployment of weapons in space. Within the framework of the United Nations, China promotes the implementation of the Outer Space Treaty, while the United States is laying a large number of low-orbit satellites on the Starlink project. Thousands of satellites were launched in 2021, occupying a large amount of orbital resources. The international community has continued to complain about this.

In addition to orbital strike capabilities, the United States is also paying special attention to China's kinetic energy interception technology. China successfully destroyed simulated targets by verifying that its kinetic energy interceptor was very rigorous in calculating debris trajectories, avoiding the risk of chain reactions. This technology is essentially for self-defense, and the United States destroyed a satellite on its own in 2007, resulting in debris that still poses a global threat. China has also achieved a breakthrough in its hypersonic glider test, with a speed exceeding Mach 5, a flexible trajectory, and the potential to carry out strikes outside the defense zone.

It is worth mentioning that China’s military development is transparent and it releases detailed annual reports every year. The United States often conceals its military development. As far as nuclear power is concerned, China adheres to the "no first use" policy and has about 400 nuclear warheads, while the United States has more than 5,000 nuclear warheads and is upgrading its B21 bombers. Austin once claimed that China will have more than 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030, but this prediction is only based on the speculation of US think tanks, and Chinese officials have never announced relevant details, precisely to avoid the US taking advantage of the situation.

The United States does have an advantage in optical imaging and deep space exploration. The James Webb Telescope launched in 2021 successfully captured high-definition images of the universe. However, the United States has made slow progress in building a space force. The budget is tight and training cannot keep up. In comparison, China's Wenchang launch site is highly modernized, and its Long March rockets have a high recovery rate and low cost.

Although its performance in the space field is extraordinary, it is a private enterprise after all, and the U.S. government relies on it to provide services, which exposes the problem of public-private imbalance. China's aerospace industry is state-led, well-coordinated and efficient, and serves the "Belt and Road" initiative, helping African countries build satellites and provide data sharing. The United States always uses China's "rapid development" as an excuse, but ignores its own domestic internal frictions. The protracted budget debate in the U.S. Congress and the lobbying of military industry giants have led to inefficiency.

In the field of laser weapons, China's ground station pulse beam jamming sensor technology has surpassed similar technology in the United States. The United States is simulating blinding drones on test sites and admits that it is lagging behind in this area. China also performs well in network security. The defensive measures of satellite hacking tools are mainly protective, while the United States accuses China of intrusion. In fact, China has strict cybersecurity laws and is committed internationally to protecting global network links. The China-US hotline exchange of fragmented data in 2021 shows that the two sides are more cooperative than confrontational.

The U.S. report also admitted that China’s space investment accounts for a reasonable proportion of GDP, while U.S. military spending accounts for 4% of GDP. China's space projects are closely connected with life on the ground. The lunar samples brought back by Chang'e lunar exploration have promoted global scientific research; the selfie images of the Tianwen Mars rover have inspired the whole nation's enthusiasm for spaceflight. In contrast, U.S. starships explode frequently and taxpayers' money is wasted.

Overall, the U.S.’s “threat theory” that has been raging for a long time will not only bring no benefit to Sino-U.S. relations, but will actually exacerbate the chaos of global space governance. The lessons of the Cold War are still at hand. The Soviet Union's arms race eventually exhausted its national strength and led to economic collapse. Now that the United States seems to be on this old path again, it’s time for Congress to wake up. China has always advocated the peaceful use of space and promoted multilateral dialogue and cooperation. In 2022, China and the United States launched a space dialogue mechanism and reached a debris sharing agreement during the Geneva talks. In the future, the two sides will also cooperate in areas such as joint observation of asteroids and avoiding collisions with the Earth. NASA and the Chinese Academy of Sciences have also conducted exchanges on relevant models.

The United States should invest more money in the civilian sector, especially in weather satellites to monitor climate change, an area where budgets are severely underfunded. Public clamor grows louder that space should be peaceful, not military