Gonzaga Debate Institute 2011 Mercury China Coop Aff


Coop Good – AT – China Is A Bad Partner (2/2)



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Coop Good – AT – China Is A Bad Partner (2/2)




China cooperates with many other countries and agencies in space projects

Acuthan, China Perspectives, 6

(Jayan Panthamakkada, China perspectives, “China’s Outer Space Porgramme: Diplomacy of Competition or Cooperation?,” January – February, http://chinaperspectives.revues.org/577, accessed: 7/6/11) KA


57 The primary aim of China’s space activities is to meet the growing demands of economic construction, national security, science and technology development, social progress, to protect China’s national interests and build up a comprehensive national strength. In a country like China, anything linked to the military will encourage more political support than something with no military application. China has an extensive and well-developed programme for the exploitation of space. This has so far focused almost exclusively on developing space capabilities for “national social-economic objectives”. During the last two decades or more, China has joined bilateral, regional, multilateral and international space co-operation in different forms, such as commercial launching service, which have yielded extensive achievements. The issue of space debris is a big challenge to further expansion of space activities. The relevant departments of China pay great attention to the problem, and have carried out research on this issue with related countries since the beginning of the 1980s. In addition, China has participated in multilateral co-operative projects, such as the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites, World Weather Monitoring, UN Decade of Disaster Mitigation, and International Solar Terrestrial Physics.

Coop Good – Laundry List (1/2)



Cooperation can be beneficial for the US too. Cooperation can solve political tensions, information about china, scientific research, space risks, Budgeting problems, and Trade

Zhou, Center for Space and applied Sciences, 8

(Yi – Chinese Academy of the Sciences and Professor at George Washington University, Perspectives on Sino-US cooperation in civil space programs, Science Direct, Space Policy 24 (2008) 132-139) AC


On the other hand, some commentators in the USA worry that cooperation with China will somehow compromise US economic and political progress and even US national security [7]. However, there are several potential benefits for the USA which should be given greater consideration: _ Benefits for geopolitical issues and global stability. A country’s strategic interests may provide the primary motivation for engaging partner nations in cooperative space ventures. The International Space Station (ISS) is a good example of this. China and the USA are both important countries and a stable relationship between them is a key factor in global stability. Space could be a focal point for promoting this kind of stability. Several European countries and Russia have undertaken cooperative activities in space with China to satisfy their ARTICLE IN PRESS geopolitical demands and other interests. Chinese participation in US-led space exploration would send a strong signal to the world of good US–China relations [8], which would be good for US international relations and would provide geopolitical benefits. _ The United States will be able to understand more about China’s space development and direction through actual cooperation. At the moment the USA observes China’s space policy and capabilities through statements in China’s white papers. But studying one paper every five years is too limited and does not provide sufficient detail. Some American consulting and research institutions may simply rely on graduate students’ superficial papers to try to gain insight into the direction of China’s space development. These are not full-scale or always entirely accurate, and may sometimes result in misunderstandings. If NASA signed an agreement with CNSA and began joint space projects, they would more easily and directly understand China’s space activities and directions. They may even be able to make some good suggestions for China’s space projects and policies. These win–win suggestions should be readily adopted by China’s policy makers to extend the two countries’ space and national benefits. _ Extending US opportunities for scientific discovery. Scientists in the USA have many interesting ideas and proposals for space science and space exploration, but the US space budget, though huge compared with that of other countries, is still limited. If the USA were to cooperate with China in space science and space exploration, there would be more opportunities for US scientific discovery. For example, in the China–ESA cooperative Double Star Exploration Program, China supplied the launch service and satellite. ESA supplied the back-up scientific instruments of the Cluster mission on the satellites. This helped ESA obtain more scientific data for research through the added payload. Greater research results were achieved. ESA’s instruments were valued at h800 000, which alone certainly cannot support a major new European science mission. _ More choices and back-up for the USA. Space exploration is an inherently risky activity in which the element of risk can be managed and mitigated but never eliminated. It is necessary for any country to spread and manage risk. More back-up means greater safety. International cooperation can be used to duplicate capabilities which ensure that failure in one area is unlikely to jeopardize the entire mission or project. The most obvious example of this point today is the ISS’s reliance on the Space Shuttle and the Soyuz for transporting humans to the station. In the next 20 years the USA and China will be realizing ambitions to fly to the Moon. By cooperating with China, this additional back-up would lower the risks involved in human spaceflight. For example, if Americans return to the Moon and meet with an accident, the Chinese lunar project or crew could supply assistance as a back-up. Usually, such arrangements are discussed and integrated from the very beginning, in the design phase. Unfortunately that does not seem very likely under current circumstances. _ Savings on the cost of US space projects to free up funds for more missions. Space science and space exploration activities are all extremely expensive, whether human or robotic. It is sometimes a waste of money and resources for different countries to explore the same unknown with the same scientific goals. Humans around the world should definitely share in pursuing these missions.



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