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Hagt, Eric. "Mutually Assured Vulnerabilities." China Security. Vol. 1, No. 2 (2006): 84-106. [ 6 quotes ]

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China Strategy is to become the Launch Services Market Leader for the Developing World
 
Beyond the domestic sphere, China’s current strategy for space is to dominate the Asia-Pacific market and become the market leader in the developing world. As satellites and launch costs decrease, access to space will expand, including to countries with lesser economic means. China is jointly engaged in developing a number of satellite programs, including an Earth observation constellation, with Bangladesh, Indonesia, Iran, Mongolia, Pakistan, Peru and Thailand. ( More ... )
Hagt, Eric. "Mutually Assured Vulnerabilities." China Security. Vol. 1, No. 2 (2006): 84-106. [ 6 quotes ] [ page 89 ]
China would be Strategically Isolated from Rest of the World in any Space Conflict
 
China’s relative strategic isolation in relation to the United States is a further complicating factor for Beijing in calculating the vulnerability of its space capabilities. It is worth considering that during operations in Iraq, up to 77 percent of the communications bandwidth used by U.S. deployed forces was provided by commercial suppliers, a significant percentage of which were foreign. Thus, strategic allies will potentially be very important in the new global space environment. ( More ... )
Hagt, Eric. "Mutually Assured Vulnerabilities." China Security. Vol. 1, No. 2 (2006): 84-106. [ 6 quotes ] [ page 91 ]
U.S. has Effectively isolated China from other Major Space-Faring Nations
 
China has no firm security alliance with any of the major space-faring nations. Cooperation with the European Space Agency on Galileo, providing China access to satellite navigation capabilities independent of the U.S. Global Position System, has posed real concern in the United States. However, though China has invested 200 million euro in the 3 billion euro program, its participation in development and production of the system will be limited. In addition, under pressure from the United States, the European Union has taken precautions to ensure that China will not have access to sensitive technologies or functions. ( More ... )
Hagt, Eric. "Mutually Assured Vulnerabilities." China Security. Vol. 1, No. 2 (2006): 84-106. [ 6 quotes ] [ page 91 ]
Political Costs too High for China to Develop Anti-Satellite Weapons
 
Nevertheless, a dedicated yet secretive space weapons program, however defined, is unlikely as such an effort would be difficult, if not impossible, to keep concealed. More importantly, the political fallout for China if caught at this game makes this scenario highly implausible. ( More ... )
Hagt, Eric. "Mutually Assured Vulnerabilities." China Security. Vol. 1, No. 2 (2006): 84-106. [ 6 quotes ] [ page 95 ]
China Feels it is the Target of U.S. Missile Defense Efforts
 
Although the U.S. government claims ‘rogue states’ such as North Korea and Iran as putative targets for such programs, China increasingly perceives itself as an intended loser -- as a robust U.S. missile defense network and an arsenal of space-based weapons could effectively negate China’s nuclear deterrent and thus trigger a destabilizing arms race. The rationale for China’s angst comes from a number of places. ( More ... )
Hagt, Eric. "Mutually Assured Vulnerabilities." China Security. Vol. 1, No. 2 (2006): 84-106. [ 6 quotes ] [ page 85 ]
China Trying to Develop Space Surveillance Capabilities
 
Secondarily, there are also active defense measures, which entail actions of avoidance such as orbital maneuvering; or countermeasures such as anti-interference and anti-jamming techniques. At the extreme would be the use of micro-satellites to actively ‘guard’ other satellites and act as decoys, or even counter-attack. While these remain defensive measures, they take on a quality of dissuasion and even deterrence. Greater situational awareness through enhanced monitoring and surveillance in space is also crucial to this idea of defense in space. One of the driving forces behind China’s efforts to research space debris identification and tracking is to also improve China’s ability to monitor military assets.68 The ability to identify and discriminate objects in space is crucial to evaluating threats from non-threats in space. ( More ... )
Hagt, Eric. "Mutually Assured Vulnerabilities." China Security. Vol. 1, No. 2 (2006): 84-106. [ 6 quotes ] [ page 93 ]