Intersection of Geopolitics and the Politics of Outer Space

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Intersection of Geopolitics and the Politics of Outer Space

On May 6, Dr. Fumiko Sasaki, a Visiting Scholar at the Reischauer Center, presented her research on the geopolitics of outer space and how advancements will affect China’s global influence and national power. Dr. Sasaki examined China’s Belt and Road Initiative in the Spatial Information Corridor (BRI-SIC), asking an important question of how countries like the US and Japan should view China’s space-related activity given that many of the projects have dual-use implications and are tied to state-owned enterprises with strong connections to China People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

Along with her research assistant Mr. Neil Pedreira, she found that many of China’s BRI-SIC projects are very beneficial economically and politically in expanding Chinese influence abroad, especially for civil purposes in developing countries. Along this line, Dr. Sasaki’s collective analysis among the ninety different projects she researched suggest that China’s BRI-SIC has more of a strategic impact by extending China’s “information-collection” networks on the civilian side, rather than directly building up the PLA’s military capability. She concluded that while the potential military usage or application of these satellite services by China is low, BRI participants should be wary that their information is highly vulnerable.