Pentagon Official: China Working Toward ‘Space Great Power Status’

A top Pentagon official announced on Tuesday that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army is building its capacities toward "space great power status."

"When you listen to the Chinese Communist leadership—particularly Xi Jinping, who serves as the core of the party—he’s outlined very specific requirements and expectations," Chad Sbragia, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for China, told the Washington Free Beacon. "Xi's done the same in terms of having space great power status—and that’s being a space great power by every measurable yardstick that you can throw out there, not least of which is capacity for their military."

Sbragia's comments came at an American Enterprise Institute event rolling out the 2020 China Military Power Report. The report offers a bird’s-eye view assessment of China's military capacities, as well as its long-term strategy and trajectory. It also details Beijing’s development of a militarized space program.