China Exploits Fleet of U.S. Satellites

Orbiting 22,000 miles above Earth, a fleet of American-built satellites is serving the Chinese government in ways that challenge the U.S.

Nine of these satellites have been part of efforts to connect Chinese soldiers on contested outposts in the South China Sea, strengthen police forces against social unrest and make sure state messaging penetrates far and wide, according to corporate records, stock filings and interviews with executives. Under U.S. export controls, semiautonomous Hong Kong is considered separate from mainland China, so AsiaSat could buy U.S. satellites despite being partly Chinese-owned. At a 2011 industry conference, a Citic manager listed the Ministry of State Security, China’s main spy agency, and the military as among a long list of end users of its satellite capacity for emergency responses, according to a copy of the presentation reviewed by the Journal.

Source: www.msn.com