That’s no moon...
It’s a Chinese-Russian Moon base
And it could determine the future of space
Welcome to China Uncensored, I’m Chris Chappell.
There’s a new space force in orbit. And this one is being led by China and Russia.
But first, Youtube frequently demonetizes the show. If you can,
help support our work for as little as a dollar an episode on Patreon.com/chinauncensored.
And be sure to hit those like and subscribe buttons,
so the almighty YouTube algorithm may smile upon us.
So as I said, Russia and China are teaming up. This time—to build a moon base.
That’s one small step for man, one giant leap—into a dystopian future.
I’m kidding of course. The Russia-China moon base is for “peaceful purposes
in the interests of all mankind”.
That’s according to this joint statement from China and Russia.
And just when the world needed him most, Elon Musk vanished.
“The two countries have also signed agreements to jointly create a data center
for the exploration of the moon and deep space.”
The base will be built on the lunar south pole.
That’s because scientists believe there might be a lot of ice there. And ice could serve as
a water supply. There also might be an orbital part of the moon base as well.
The base will be called the “International Lunar Science Station.”
International, because China and Russia want to lure the rest of the world in,
so they can replace the US as the dominant space force.
It’s a real possibility too. “The European Space Agency has also expressed
interest in partnering with China on future missions to the Moon.”
As early as last year, China was talking about a Moon base.
And in 2019, China was the first country to land a probe on the dark side of the moon.
Unfortunately, the probe was quickly refracted into a rainbow.
NASA has excluded China from all US space operations.
That’s because China’s space program is run by the Chinese Communist Party’s military.
Although now Biden’s space advisers are saying we should cooperate with China.
They are officially space cadets.
US dominance of space has been slipping for decades.
And Russia and China are eager to replace the US.
Not only would that have a huge impact on future space explorations,
but also on security here on Earth.
China is already trying to replace the GPS navigation system, which is run
by the US. And they’ve launched their own satellites to do it.
So whoever controls space will be the next superpower.
The Biden Administration has said it will
continue the Trump era Artemis Program to return to the moon.
Former Vice President Mike Pence had said the US would return to the Moon by 2024.
To get there, NASA created the Artemis Program in 2017, and it laid the
groundwork for international cooperation in space—international cooperation with the US.
NASA also created the Artemis Accords in 2020, and they’ve been signed by 10 countries.
The Accords say that “Partner nations...need to agree to 10 basic norms as part of
their space activities, such as operating transparently and releasing scientific data.”
Those are things that China and Russia maybe aren’t too keen on,
being authoritarian regimes and all. And, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but
I really agree with state-run Global Times on this one, when they say Russia
opting for moon base cooperation with China over the US is ‘not surprising’
And now, as a thank you to everyone who supports China Uncensored on Patreon,
I’ll answer a question from what I call the China Uncensored 50 cent army.
P Dwag asks, “Doesn't the CCP already control the value of the RMB within
China? They are just re-inventing bank accounts and debit cards.”
This was in response to our recent episode about China declaring war on Bitcoin.
Essentially, the Chinese Comunist Party is trying to create its own national digital currency.
P Dwag, you’re right that China already controls the value of the RMB.
But that’s not enough for the Communist Party. Over the past several years,
China has been transitioning to becoming a cashless society.
That gives the government way more power to monitor and track every transaction
Chinese people make. It also let’s them freeze the accounts of dissidents.
Sure, there are tools to do most of that already, but it involves piecing
together a lot of different systems, including coordinating with different Chinese companies.
But with a digital currency, it’s so much easier.
Globally, however, the US dollar still dominates. In fact, a lot of China’s Belt and Road agreements
operate using the dollar. China wants to have the dominant global currency. The RMB is unlikely
to do that. But countries around the world are experimenting with a national digital currency.
“Yet no major power is as far along as China. Its early moves could signal where the rest of the
world goes with digital currencies.”
So China’s ambition is much greater than just controlling the RMB.
And if that terrifies you, now’s a good time to remind you that China
Uncensored also accepts bitcoin. Go to ChinaUncensored.tv/support.
Thanks for your question P Dwag.
And thank you for watching. Once again I’m Chris Chappell. See you next time.