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Letters: Space race is worrying

The Oct. 24 launch of the Chinese lunar explorer Chang'e I garnered international media attention in a move that at once heated up the space race in Asia and enhanced China's status as a major power. China has been assiduously developing its space program over the past few years and it is obvious that Beijing wants to show that it has emerged as an independent space power.

In January, China alarmed the international community when it blasted an old weather satellite into oblivion with a land-based anti-satellite missile. Safety of satellites is thus threatened.

Moreover, China's military has been in charge of the space program from the beginning. The Chang'e expedition will drastically increase China's military capability and its influence on other countries, especially Taiwan.

Although Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) in his report to the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China did not threaten to use force against Taiwan despite Taipei's plan to hold a referendum on joining the UN, we must beware of the threat posed to our nation's safety by China's burgeoning space program.

Ping-Jung Ho

Taipei
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