China and U.S. Space Race to the Moon is Heating Up

The Moon is the ultimate high ground and the Chinese are hoping to set precedents on how to control this high ground by maintaining a continuous human presence first:

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, the Shenzhou-13 manned spaceship atop a Long March-2F carrier rocket prepares to be transferred to the launching area of Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China, Oct. 7, 2021. (Wang Jiangbo/Xinhua via AP)

If China were to be the first to land its astronauts, sometimes known as taikonauts, it could gain the advantage in “establishing the rules of the road for how this new era of exploration will work,” said Todd Harrison, a nonresident senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“We want to be there establishing precedent for mining of materials on the moon and how that’s done for making claims to materials and property rights,” he said. “We want to do that in a way that’s consistent with our values and our economic system. And if China gets there first, they will get to set precedent that’s based on their values and their economic system.”

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but this is why I have always felt we need to secure a U.S. presence on the Moon first before Mars.