For the last several years, there has been a significant and swift shift in the geopolitics of the globe. Recent examples include the trade dispute between the Unite

For the last several years, there has been a significant and swift shift in the geopolitics of the globe. Recent examples include the trade dispute between the United States and China, the COVID-19 pandemic, Brexit, and the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Today, we live in a time where every government, regardless of whether it is a developed country or a developing country, wants to expand its footprint in every sphere, whether it be agriculture or the military. For the last several years, China has significantly increased its presence not just in every industry but also on every continent. It has been more than 40 years since Deng Xiaoping, the leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and General Architect, introduced the economic reforms that launched the nation and helped it attain the position that it occupies today. These reforms were important in propelling the PRC to its current position.

"To explore the vast cosmos, develop the space industry, and build China into a space power is our eternal dream," President Xi Jinping said." The space industry is one of the most important businesses for China's economy and military in terms of strategic planning. China has had rapid and innovative progress in the previous seven years, as shown by the installation of a high-resolution earth observation system and the ongoing improvement of satellite communications and broadcasting serviceability. This success has presented itself in a variety of ways. Because of China's excellent technology, Mars exploration and interplanetary flight have gone rather successfully. These achievements have not only boosted China's space programme, but have also caught the attention of the whole world due to the speed with which the country is catching up to all other nations in space research. China has launched a spacecraft into low-Earth orbit with success. However, like with all of China's other programmes that get praise and applause from all nations, it also raises worldwide concerns. The same is true of China's rapid progress in the space sector: it is earning praise and admiration from all over the world. Nonetheless, in recent years, China has been able to weaponize the space realm via technological advances such as ground-based energy, anti-satellite missiles, and orbital interception capabilities. China's presence in space is admirable; nevertheless, be aware since, since 2015, China has engaged into a number of cooperation with countries such as Russia in order to expand its presence in space. This has prompted the United States and its allies to be worried about China's rapid advancement in the space domain. China and China's long-time partner Russia have made considerable financial contributions to the space sector in recent years. As both Russia and China are expected to undercut the United States in the next years, Russia and China's space fleets have grown by almost 70% in the previous four years. China is currently in second position in the space weapons race, behind only the United States. Furthermore, China and Russia have agreed to cooperate on the construction of a lunar research station, which is set to begin in 2025. China has also been working on the development of ASAT missiles, which are a priority of China's research and development activities and, if successful, have the potential to produce massive debris fields, making them a serious concern for the future of space. In addition to its rapid expansion, China has been using other countries to expand its space footprint.

China’s Presence in the Latin American continent

Several Latin American nations have articulated their relationship with China over the last twenty years, and several nations have entered into various pacts and arrangements that have assisted them in obtaining more favourable trade deals and loan agreements than those offered by the IMF or the United States and its allies. China's investment in Latin American nations has expanded over the previous two decades, from a meagre $12 billion in 2000 to more than $445 billion in 2021. In addition to these loans, China's state-owned banks have provided over $139 billion in loans to Latin American nations for usage in areas such as agriculture, mining, and energy, compared to the US and its allies. China has been able to maintain stronger ties with Latin American nations and reach better economic agreements with those countries in recent years for a variety of reasons, including i) South-South ideals such as non-interference in the nation's internal affairs; ii) China's alternative growth model; and iii) the lack of loan conditions. In recent years, China has been one of the most important donors to the economic development of Latin American countries. Latin American countries such as Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Venezuela have signed various space cooperation agreements with their Chinese counterparts throughout the years. Ecuador and Chile are two other countries that have done so. However, many commentators believe that the "special relationship" that exists between China and Latin America will benefit China more than the Latin American countries. China's military presence in Latin America, which was traditionally thought to have a limited reach there, has grown at a dizzying speed in recent years. China has used Latin American countries to build substations, military bases, and space stations. Many observers believe China is using these substations for monitoring purposes. China has been increasing its influence in authoritarian Latin American countries such as Venezuela and Cuba, both of which are boycotted by the US. What is worrying today is the lack of knowledge about China's goals for its stations, which is part of Beijing's bigger ambition to portray itself as one of the major space powers. This wider thrust includes China's space network throughout Latin America. The United States of America is quite worried because numerous Latin American nations have promised not to interfere with or disrupt any of the Chinese efforts. This has increased US concerns that substations in numerous Latin American nations may be used to spy on US assets and collect vital information. The United States and its allies have sent warnings to different Latin American nations, concerned that China's operation of a space station or military base, even for "peaceful purposes" as claimed by China, would be damaging to the countries hosting the facilities. One such occurrence occurred in 2019, when Sweden issued a warning that China may be using its space stations to gather military intelligence on the host country. Despite the fact that China has said publicly on multiple times that its space objectives are for peaceful reasons, the government has been working for the greater part of the previous two decades to develop its space capabilities. The rapid rise of China over the Latin American continent will cause issues for Latin American nations.

Even if one were to take China at its word and think that the space stations are not being used for military objectives, this does not exclude the possibility of the other issue that the Latin American continent has to be aware of is the substantial debt that has been incurred as a result of the governments in Latin America taking out loans from China. Even though Chinese loans may seem more affordable in terms of interest and debt, several nations have made the same mistake and are now mired in debt. The debt trap has already started showing early signs in Argentina, as the country has already started dealing in Yuan for payments, which is a sign of their currency falling in value in comparison to the Chinese currency. One could take a good look at Pakistan and Sri Lanka, both of which have sold their country's assets because they could not pay the debt back with interest to China. Because of this, not only should the United States and other democratic nations be concerned about the possibility of losing their hegemony over the continent, but even the host countries should be concerned since they will be required to sell their assets.

China’s footprint in Space through the Latin American continent

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