South China Morning Post (Hong Kong)
10 April 2018
- RSIS
- Media Mentions
- China’s Mystery “Military Base” in Vanuatu Could Be a Space Tracking Station
China’s Mystery “Military Base” in Vanuatu Could Be a Space Tracking Station
Beijing could be planning to set up a space tracking station in Vanuatu, Chinese military experts said on Tuesday, despite denials from both sides that a permanent military base in the South Pacific island state was in the offing.
A space tracking or satellite telemetry station would not exclude the possibility of building other facilities there although the project would require Vanuatu’s agreement, Collin Koh Swee Lean, a research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, said.
“It’s possible to build a surveillance facility, and is certainly within Beijing’s financial and technical means to do so. The only hurdles are political,” he said.
“If the facility has a dual use, both civilian and military, then the picture becomes murky. This will often allow a project to slip through strict scrutiny.”
IDSS / Online / Print
Last updated on 11/04/2018
