Decoding China: Beijing's 'moon diplomacy'

A special container, the size of a jam jar, is filled with gray dust.

The label reads "CE6C500." A man with gray hair uses a lit, hand-held magnifying glass to take a closer look. In the room is Chinese President Xi Jinping, along with the entire Politburo.

On September 23, China's top space researchers gathered in the Great Hall of the People in the center of Beijing. At the event, China's leadership was given a glimpse into space, and more specifically, at dust from the dark side of the moon.

In June, China became the first nation to successfully collect rocks from the side of the moon facing away from Earth.

"Twenty years of lunar missions are one of many examples that demonstrate the strength of our nation. We have achieved cutting-edge research and extraordinary performance — indepdent of anyone else," said Xi at the event. 

The "Chang'e-6" mission, named after a Chinese goddess who is said to live on the moon with a jade rabbit, brought 1,935 grams of samples back to Earth. 

During the previous mission "Chang'e-5," 1,731 grams of rock samples were collected in December 2020, but from the Earth-facing side of the moon.

Gifts from the moon

China, in the past, has used lunar samples as a way to foster international cooperation on research. 

The "Sample 001" moonstone can be found in China's National Museum. Small quantities are also kept in the hometown of state founder Mao Zedong in Shaoshan — a political gesture by the Communist Party.

The government in Beijing skillfully uses the moon samples in diplomacy. However, the idea of giving gifts from the moon originally came from Washington.

Before the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the US, Zbigniew Brzezinski, the security adviser to US President Jimmy Carter, gave the Chinese government a gram of moon rock during his visit in 1978.

China's first moon sample went to Russia.

President Vladimir Putin received 1.5 grams of moon rock during his visit to China in April 2022.

A year later, Putin returned the favor and gave Xi 1.5 grams of moon samples from a USSR moon mission from the 1970s.

France also received a lunar sample from Beijing in 2023, along with the message: "For joint research."

The sample is in the Paris Museum of Natural History. The gift was presented to French President Emmanuel Macron during his state visit to China.

It is unclear whether some of these latest samples will be gifted to other countries.

Geopolitics in space

As NASA in the US is again exploring the idea of lunar missions, cooperation with China is a moonshot, as both countries are tangled in a geopolitical rivalry. 

In 2011, as part of the budget debate, the US Congress approved a law that prohibits NASA from cooperating with China in any way.

According to a report by the National Security Space Association (NSSA) in Arlington, located not far from the Pentagon, the long-term geopolitical competition will not only play out in near-Earth space but will also extend to the entire Earth-Moon system.

"China sees itself in a new space race with the US that it intends to win," wrote NSSA researchers Marc Berkowitz and Chris Williams.

However, lunar researchers in the US managed to obtain an exemption at the end of 2023.

According to consistent media reports, NASA is said to have informed all US scientists in an internal email that they may apply to request samples from Chang'e-5 to the China National Space Agency (CNSA) for research purposes.

NASA had submitted a certificate to the US Congress stating that there was "no risk to data and technology transfer" in this specific case.

In the first round of applications in April 2024 with ten candidates, five were from the US, including NASA curator for moon rocks Ryan Zeigler. According to the CNSA, German cosmochemist Carsten Münker from the University of Cologne was also among the applicants.

So far, 12 people, all NASA astronauts, have walked on the moon. They have brought a total of 381.7 kilograms of stones from the moon to Earth. China wants to catch up quickly.

China's space agency has announced its ambition to put a Chinese taikonaut on the moon by 2030. They want to find out for themselves whether and where exactly the goddess Chang'e lives.

This article has been translated from German.