China on Mars: A Challenge to the United States. What is changing now for the West?

How do we see the world? Do we see it as it really is, or how do we think we see it? The eternal dilemma arises, the Schopenhauer’s dichotomy between will and representation, the subjective filter of a gaze that conceals instead an objective reality. It is valid for everything: also for geopolitics. Especially for the geopolitics of space.

After landing the Zhurong rover (meaning “fire star”, from the ancient Chinese name for Mars), China has become the third country in the world to operate its own vehicle on the surface of the Red Planet, literally moving forward. The Tianwen-1 mission (which in Mandarin means “heavenly questions”) took less than six years to move from the design phase, which began in 2014, to the actual launch, which dates back to July 23, 2020. A fairly smooth path, which is what It was also able to take advantage of the evidence (including potential problems and weaknesses) presented by its Western counterparts. For an immediate comparison, I think it took ExoMars’ job instead of a good three decades to transition from mathematical design paradigms to the launch pad.

What does all this mean? This means that a new race to space has undoubtedly opened up (not from today), a celestial sphere that the Celestial Empire in Beijing wishes to colonize. With a goal that goes beyond the great scientific progress. In fact, space exploration is one of the brightest examples of dual-use technologies, where application effects are immediate and interrupt both the civilian sector (think telecommunications) and above all the corporate and military sectors.

In this regard, on the occasion of the recent launch of the first unit of China’s nascent orbital space station, President Xi Jimping sent a message to the mission group, encouraging them to “The spirit of the two bombs and the satellite continues with conviction and enthusiasmWith an explicit reference, then, to the path set and followed by the Communist Party in the 1960s and 1970s, to ensure – ipse dixit – the safety of the young people’s republic: or to test a nuclear device, put it on board an ICBM and launch the first satellite in Orbit.

All objectives have been fully achieved. And certainly not in favor of the West, which appears to be blind, compatible and awaits the rapid advancement of the Dragon, hungry for knowledge and brains largely looted in Europe.

calendar? Pictures and news these days, full of frightening dangers due to the return of large debris to the atmosphere, as if magic lit a torch of consciousness, showing us how much China exists and knows how to do. Moreover, it is unrealistic to think of an “astronaut” first outing on the surface of the moon as early as 2030.

“The biggest obstacle to Western politics and diplomacy in confronting the Beijing space program is that it is not known exactly what China wants to do.Mark Hilburn, a defense expert at Kings College London, said in a recent article in the Financial Times. Thus, what really worries is not the moon, but in this case the finger that covers it, because it is precisely in the finger (on the trigger) that the potential hostile uses of the Sinic space invasion are hidden.

The hope is that the West, the victim among other things of the Covid-19 epidemic (a virus, we must always remember it, of Chinese origin) will finally be able to wake up from the numbness of the senses and the mind, responding to the level of primates and the scientific and technological quality that still belongs to us.

That is, looking at geopolitics with fresh eyes, more cautious, conscious and alert. As Albert Einstein emphasized in his 1931 article “The World As I See It”:All crises bring progress. Creativity arises from anguish just as the day arises from a dark night. In crisis, creativity, discovery, and great strategies are born. […] There is no advantage without a crunch. In a crisis we can really show our best“.

In fact, we learn from crises and difficulties. Always. Giving positive feedback and thoughts and this precious awareness is not the result of force aggression, but rather the result of optimism of the will.