On Monday last week, US President Donald Trump announced that he had directed the US Department of Defense to immediately establish a new military branch — a “Space Force” — to ensure that the US maintains a military advantage in space and avoids being overtaken in extraterrestrial affairs by other nations such as China.
When China launched its first domestic communications satellite into space in 1970 — the Dong Fang Hong I — it became the world’s fifth nation capable of sending a satellite into orbit around the Earth.
In 1981, China’s Feng Bao 1 carrier rocket launched three satellites into space. In 2015, Long March 6, one of a new generation of Chinese carrier rockets, deployed 20 satellites into their designated orbits in one launch.
All these successes make it clear that China possesses the capability to wage war in space.
There is a clear national strategic goal and military ambition behind all of China’s technological developments in space, and it has never been a matter of simply wishing to explore space or to serve its people’s well-being and business purposes.
A statement published in the People’s Liberation Army Daily in 2014 provides all the evidence that is needed to prove this point: “Whoever is able to control space will hold the dominant position on Earth; whoever holds the dominant position on Earth will seize the war initiative.”
A National Defense Report released by the Ministry of National Defense in Taipei in October 2015 said that all of the military satellites China has launched into orbit over the past few years have given the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) round-the-clock military command, as well as control and intelligence transfer capabilities.
These satellites are also capable of supporting long-range missions carried out by the PLA in areas west of the first island chain.
Furthermore, the Beidou satellite navigation system deployed by China provides coverage of the West Pacific into the Indian Ocean, effectively improving real-time target surveillance, as well as the accuracy of long-range precision strikes.
In addition to continuing the traditional joint military drills between the army, navy and air force, the ministry and national security authorities should also conduct in-depth studies into reactionary and preventive measures to guard against the possibility of the PLA deploying the weapons it has developed — such as satellite killers, laser weapons and GPS jamming equipment — in a cross-strait conflict.
Possible scenarios include the PLA launching anti-satellite missiles at Taiwanese satellites in orbit, which would comprehensively destroy military precision and telecommunications systems in Taiwan.
The PLA’s potential deployment of satellites for military purposes should be another vital aspect of simulations when conducting military drills.
Yao Chung-yuan is former deputy director of the Ministry of National Defense’s Strategic Planning Department and an adjunct university professor.
Translated by Chang Ho-ming.
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