The Moon is back in the spotlight. China and America are racing to be the first to establish a human presence on its surface.
America has lost its sense of history, just as China is rediscovering its own. There was a time when American presidents knew perfectly well whom they were governing for. Once in office, they made few concessions to the voters who had carried them to power, beyond those strictly necessary. They governed for History.
They understood the symbolic power of gestures and deeds. And, of course, this goes far beyond the cheap trick of renaming a cultural institution or a geographical gulf. Branding and abuses of power are another matter altogether.
The Week That Changed the World
The controversial Nixon was many things, not all of them good, but one thing he certainly possessed was a keen sense of history. During his historic visit to China in 1972, which he grandly dubbed “the week that changed the world,” he casually remarked that American astronauts had said the Great Wall was the only man-made structure visible from space. They had said nothing of the sort.
The Chinese were only too happy to go along with the story, endorsing the claim and spreading it far and wide. Like Nixon, they were eager to portray Sino-American relations as strong as possible, hoping to weaken the Soviet Union, with which both countries had serious differences.
China in Space
In 2003, China’s first astronaut, Yang Liwei, punctured the myth. The view from space, he said, was extraordinary, but he had not been able to see the Great Wall. China was a different place back then, where such remarks could still be made.
Today, one suspects that Yang Liwei, had he been the first Chinese astronaut to set foot on the Moon, would not only have celebrated the achievement but also confirmed that the only thing he could see from there was the Great Wall. Or, at the very least, he would have wisely kept quiet about it. The prevailing message is that human history must be marked by great national feats and monuments of universal significance.
The Cockfight
The battle between the United States and China is being fought on every front. And the Moon, where tariffs do not apply, is no exception. The competition is fierce. Yet NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman has acknowledged something that would once have been unthinkable: China might beat America in the race to return humans to the Moon.
That is why the Americans are speeding up their Artemis III and Artemis IV missions. But when one side accelerates, the other inevitably follows suit. Let’s see which rooster draws blood first.
The Skies and the Seas
For the time being, China has become the first country to bring back samples from the far side of the Moon. It has also renewed old alliances and is working with Russia to establish its own lunar base, powered by nuclear reactors.
We have long known that empires were once won at sea. That helps explain why China has established a foothold in 115 ports around the world, through which flows 95% of its trade with the more than 120 countries that count the Dragon as their largest trading partner.
Having conquered the seas, the next frontier is the heavens, that legendary realm where history and myth have always met.
