Everything above the Heavens(天上)? Analyzing Chinese Space Diplomacy and American Responses

【摘要】：Since the inception of the Space Race,national space programs have remained a strong indicator of national strength and scientific progress.In the midst of Cold War security concerns as to who would control the heavens,the spacefaring nations of the 20 th century developed multilateral governance institutions to encourage international cooperation in the peaceful development of outer space.Chinese outer space development,both in practice and in rhetoric,affects this system in novel ways.China's use of outer space capabilities as a tool of foreign policy challenges a previously American-led international system of space development.China provides smaller countries access to space through technology sharing and leverages multilateral cooperation and contributions to space governance as a tool of image building and soft power.This paper brings a institutional perspective to existing literature on China's space program and China-US relations.Through text analysis of American and Chinese space rhetoric towards each other,international space law and norm development,and qualitative interviews with American space law experts,what becomes obvious is that Chinese behavior in outer space and the American response makes this new Space Race markedly different from the first.