The reasons why Milei will seek to inspect China's space base in Argentina

The government of Javier Milei will seek to inspect the base for space purposes that China installed in the Argentine province of Neuquén and that The United States objects due to alleged military objectives.

The Chinese space station, which has operated since October 2017 under a first bilateral agreement signed in 2012, during the Administration of the Peronist Cristina Fernández (2007-2015), returned to the center of the scene this week, within the framework of the visit that the general of the Southern Command of the United States, Laura Richardson, makes to Argentina.

“Negotiations are beginning to begin to audit and inspect this because the Chinese say that is not the case (regarding the supposed military purposes). The situation will be studied,” Milei said in an interview with BloombergNews broadcast this Thursday night.

Negotiations are beginning to begin to audit and inspect this because the Chinese say that is not the case (regarding the supposed military purposes). The situation will be studied

The presidential spokesman, Manuel Adorni, said this Friday at a press conference that The Argentine Government believes that the activity at the base “is purely scientific and research”, but that, “in any case, the necessary technical inspections will be carried out”.

“There is not going to be any type of conflict with China because we are not going to move away from what is stated in the agreement that another government has signed with respect to the base,” said Adorni, who ratified the Milei Government's alignment with the United States in matters of foreign policy.

Located in the Quintuco area (1,150 kilometers southwest of Buenos Aires) and designed to connect with space missions, The station is a project of the Chinese National Agency for Satellite Launch, Tracking and General Control (CLTC) and the National Commission for Space Activities (Conae) of Argentina.

Based on an agreement signed in 2012 between these organizations and the province of Neuquén, the construction of the base began in 2013, in April 2015 the antenna assembly tasks began and in 2017 it began to operate.

Although there was successive criticism of the installation of this base, the issue returned to the fore these days, within the framework of the visit of Richardson, who at the beginning of last March, when speaking before the Armed Services Committee of the House of Representatives of the United States, stated that China seeks to “gain influence and advance its evil agenda” in Latin America.

Shortly after, the US ambassador in Buenos Aires, Marc Stanley, expressed his concern about the Chinese base and noted that he was “surprised that Argentina allows the Chinese Armed Forces to operate in Neuquén, secretly, doing who knows what.”

“I understand that these are Chinese army soldiers who operate this space telescope, I don't know what they do, I think the Argentines don't know either, and they should understand why the Chinese are deployed there,” he told the newspaper La Nación.

Without making public mention of the thorny issue of the Chinese base, on Thursday night, in the southern city of Ushuaia, a strategic gateway to Antarctica, Milei met with Richardson, who said he looked forward to “working with Argentina to strengthen regional defense cooperation.”

This Friday, the Government of the province of Neuquén issued a statement, in which it stated that, in relation to the space station installed in its territory, “it is essential to guarantee legal security in compliance with established contracts and agreements” and also “Maximum transparency must be ensured in the development of the activities that are the subject of said agreements.”

“In the face of Argentine society in general and Neuquén society in particular, all pertinent controls must be carried out – if necessary – by the Argentine national government, to ensure effective compliance with all those items included in the agreements and guarantee, at the same time, that there are no possibilities of any activity that is not duly contemplated,” said the provincial Executive.

EFE