‘Did you see that, grandpa Mao?’ The prestige and propaganda rationales of the Chinese space program

Sheehan, Michael

doi:10.1016/j.spacepol.2013.03.003

Cited by 13 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…This mere military security emphasis leads to cognitive biases in the perception of Chinese space policy and a one-sided approach. The most realistic estimate is that China's space programme is the product of a variety of factors, including strong domestic political and developmentalist goals that prove to be complex and multifaceted [Sheehan 2013]. The PRC values space because it has the potential to increase the country's comprehensive national power (CNP), which is the sum of a nation's diplomatic, informational, military, and economic power [Pollpeter 2020].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chinese Space Policy Narrative in 2000–2022: Comparative Analysis of Five White Papers on Space

Stetsiuk

2023

Chinese Studies

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The People's Republic of China is in a state of transition from the first tier of emerging space actors to developed ones. The country represents a unique case, reaching the same "firsts" but at a faster pace, making a shift from a reactive to a proactive space policy, from being one of the space followers to turning into one of the space leaders.China has published five White Papers on space activities over the past 23 years: in 2000, 2006, 2011, 2016, and 2022. They provide a concise overview of China's key achievements in this field and its strategic goals for the next five years.The aim of this comparative analysis is to track the evolutionary processes that took place in the Chinese space policy narrative from 2000 to 2022. The White Papers are compared according to the following five criteria: 1) aims and principles; 2) progress made in space technology, applications, and science; 3) development concepts; 4) international cooperation guidelines; and 5) major bilateral, multilateral, and commercial events in space collaboration.Such core elements of space technology as the space transportation system, space infrastructure, manned spaceflight, and deep space exploration are considered with a focus on China's achievements in these areas.This paper attempts to construct a holistic picture of China's space policies based on a critical analysis of the five White Papers. The crucial features that make Chinese space narrative especially progressive, appealing, and captivating are defined. Attention is paid to the essential elements that are of special interest in the field of international relations and foreign politics. The role of Ukraine in bilateral space cooperation is mentioned.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chinese Space Policy Narrative in 2000–2022: Comparative Analysis of Five White Papers on Space

Stetsiuk

2023

Chinese Studies

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“…6) and as a way to, in the words of Chancellor Bernhard von Bülow, "reconcile, pacify, rally, [and] unify" the populace (quoted in Gordon 1974, 217). Similar thinking has led leaders to invest in Olympic success (Rhamey and Early 2013) and, in the case of China, to establish a human spaceflight program (Sheehan 2013). Musgrave and Nexon (2018) show that the politics of status-at home and abroad-1 See also Lindemann and Ringmar (2012).…”

Section: The Domestic Politics Of International Statusmentioning

confidence: 97%

International Status Concerns and Domestic Support for Political Leaders

Powers¹,

Renshon

2021

American J Political Sci

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We study how international status concerns among the public affect support for political leaders, arguing that because status competition is pervasive in social life and because international status competition entails high-profile displays of scientific or martial savvy, the public is likely to be attuned to the status implications of foreign policy crises. We test this argument in seven survey experiments across four issue areas. The results show that adverse outcomes in world affairs increase expectations of international status loss and, through that mechanism, reduce presidential approval. Analysis of open-ended survey responses reveals that the public views international status in much the same way that international relations scholars do: it is multidimensional, positional, and instrumentally useful. Taken together, our results suggest that the public's international status concerns have significant implications for leaders and offer new insight into how the public parses the implications of events abroad.

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“…De fait, c'est surtout en référence à la ligne brisée des objectifs programmatiques américains soumis aux aléas des changements politiques que la continuité de l'effort du spatial chinois est survalorisée en Occident. Cette grille de lecture donne finalement raison à l'analyse initiale du pouvoir politique chinois des bénéfices de la présence dans l'espace comme facteur décisif de reconnaissance internationale 22 .…”

Section: Nouvelle Organisation Du Secteur Spatial 1993-1998unclassified

La Chine dans l’espace et le rêve chinois

Sourbès-Verger¹

2021

Monde Chinois

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The symbolic importance of space capabilities as a demonstration of China's modernity and national power was clearly stated as early as 1956, a year before the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the Earth's first artificial satellite. While some factions of the Cultural Revolution criticized space scientists and engineers as too far from the concerns of the masses, political leaders of all stripes supported the program and celebrated the launch of China's first satellite in 1970. The normalization of the 1980s influenced the development of the sector, which became institutionalized and opened up to the international market by offering commercial launch services. The advantages of space technologies compensate for the lack of ground infrastructures and the sector easily adapts to the diverse slogans of political leaders. Finally, the history of the space sector and its «strategic» status lead to special relations with the defence sector. The constant political support, even if it has evolved according to the priorities, has led to the construction of various space competences. The desire to catch up technologically, an objective that China has set for itself in all fields, is logically reflected into space. The U.S. policy of excluding China from any technology transfer has strengthened China's autonomy. It is now presenting itself as an alternative and offering its space capabilities on the international scene.The question of China's space skills is therefore of new importance in a context where the Xi slogan of the Chinese dream is not hiding its ambitions.

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‘Did you see that, grandpa Mao?’ The prestige and propaganda rationales of the Chinese space program

Cited by 13 publications

References 6 publications

Chinese Space Policy Narrative in 2000–2022: Comparative Analysis of Five White Papers on Space

Chinese Space Policy Narrative in 2000–2022: Comparative Analysis of Five White Papers on Space

International Status Concerns and Domestic Support for Political Leaders

La Chine dans l’espace et le rêve chinois

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