Le radici storiche dell'attuale conflittualità spaziale sino-statunitense

As is known, the rise of China in the space domain has been interpreted by the US through the lens of the so-called «China space threat theory» – a paradigm whose rise to prominence coincided with a series of Chinese rocket failures in the late Nineties. However, as some Western and Chinese scholars pointed out, the current American articulation of the «Chinese space threat» is no more than a reiteration of the threats perceived by US Intelligence prior to Nixon’s rapprochement with Beijing. In an attempt to detect the historical roots of the current competition in space between the US and China, this essay makes use of both Western and Chinese sources, aiming to give a more comprehensive account of the US strategic gaze toward China’s space program in both classified circles and public debate from the end of the Fifties to the beginning of the Seventies.