And just like a cold war, China is making a strategic move.
The lunar south pole seems to be prime real estate. One of two always lit / always dark positions, and it has more water ice and craters than the north pole. Definitely the better of the two spots.
Unless they're willing to share, they're shafting the rest of the world.
Nothing we do on the moon in the near term will require that it be to the exclusion of other countries. Landing a rover, or creating a moon base of a few hundred square meters still leaves a lot more moon for others.
Nothing except human nature ... see the current controversies in the South China Sea.
States are very territorial. There are emotional reasons for it, but also the exclusive claim for natural resources.
If water is found in mineable concentrations in only a few spots of the Moon, I bet there will be a serious conflict over those spots. It is literally a matter of survival for the future colonists.
The lunar south pole seems to be prime real estate. One of two always lit / always dark positions, and it has more water ice and craters than the north pole. Definitely the better of the two spots.
Unless they're willing to share, they're shafting the rest of the world.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_south_pole