Argentina is considering a formal inspection of a Chinese “space station” on Argentine territory built during a previous socialist presidency, the government confirmed on Tuesday.
The Chinese base, located 18 miles from the village of Bajada del Agrio in the southwestern province of Neuquén, was built as part of an agreement signed between China and the administration of socialist former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner in 2014. The base, which operates under total secrecy, completed construction in 2017 during the administration of center-right former President Mauricio Macri.
The base features a 16-story antenna and covers a 200-hectare area controlled by China via a 50-year lease. The base is manned by personnel from China Satellite Launch and Tracking Control General (CLTC), a group that ultimately answers to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Strategic Support Force.
China maintains complete secrecy over the base’s operations and does not offer the Argentine government any oversight. The Fernández de Kirchner agreement provides that Argentine authorities “cannot interfere” with its activities. The Chinese Communist Party claims the station is used for “peaceful space observation and exploration.”
China’s Xi Jinping, left, and Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez exchange documents during the signing of bilateral agreements at Casa Rosada presidential palace in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, July 18, 2014. (Victor R. Caivano/AP)
A report published by the Pentagon in 2019 warned that China could use the base to monitor and potentially target American and allied satellites.
A source from the Argentine presidential office told the news outlet Infobae on Tuesday that President Javier Milei is considering issuing an inspection request to the secretive Chinese base. The source said the intention is to “analyze if there is something strange with the base in Neuquén,” noting that “contracts can be reviewed.”
President of Argentina Javier Milei (Anna Moneymaker/Getty)
The source explained that the contract says “ten percent of the resources in the base must be used by Argentina and that is what we want to verify is fulfilled.”
“It is necessary to check what was built and what was not built, from what was established in the contract,” the source stressed.
The announcement of a possible inspection of the Chinese “space base” occurs right as United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) Commander Gen. Laura J. Richardson arrived in Argentina on Tuesday for a three-day visit focusing on defense and security cooperation.
Richardson´s agenda will reportedly cover the matter of the Chinese base, the threat of fundamentalist terrorism on the continent, and the purchase of defensive equipment. Richardson will also have talks with ministers, governors, and civilian and military officials in different parts of Argentina.
Unlike Argentina’s previous socialist administrations – which steered the South American nation’s foreign policy towards China, Russia, and Iran – President Milei has repeatedly vowed he would realign the country’s foreign policy, making the United States and Israel its top allies. Milei has also repeatedly insisted that he would not engage in business with communist nations nor promote relations with such countries.
In remarks given as part of a broader interview on Sunday, U.S. Ambassador to Argentina Marc Stanley told the Argentine newspaper La Nación that he was surprised Argentina allowed Chinese armed forces to operate a base on its territory.
Stanley said:
Regarding the Chinese, I am surprised that Argentina allows the Chinese Armed Forces to operate in Neuquén, in secret, doing who knows what. I understand that these are Chinese army soldiers operating this space telescope. I don’t know what they are doing, I don’t think the Argentines know either, and they should understand why the Chinese are deployed there.
China – during the notoriously pro-China administration of Milei’s predecessor, socialist former President Alberto Fernández – was able to exert significant pressure on the South American nation, taking advantage of Argentina’s precarious economic and social situation to gain control of some of the nation’s strategic sectors such as a large part of Argentina’s energy industry.
Fernández had Argentina join China’s predatory Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) debt trap program in February 2022 during an official visit to Beijing — where Fernández laid a wreath to honor communist mass murderer Mao Zedong.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
