Taiwan has every reason to doubt China's motives, even when they publicly aspire to such an admirable feat as sending a man to the moon:
To the Taiwanese government, it was as if China's historic space mission did not happen.While China was flooded with congratulatory messages from all over the world, the island's leaders chose to say nothing or as little as possible about the manned mission.
..."We welcome any efforts to develop space technology which can help promote the living and scientific standards of mankind," [Cabinet spokesman Lin Chia-lung] told The Straits Times.
"But what we don't want to see is the use of the technology for non-peaceful purposes, including staging an arms race that would destabilise the Asia-Pacific region."
Taiwan is taking a sensible position. Remember that the arms race never stopped - just because China has been surreptitiously advancing its military and related telecommunications technologies doesn't mean that it does so with any less speed or intent. Satellites and global, pinpoint-location devices are among the most potent weapons in our arsenal as well as those of our most technologically advanced allies; obtaining similar orbital assets will allow China to compete nearer to our level.
Like any military real estate, mastery is decided by combat. The ability to control low orbit by destroying the communications networks of enemies and rivals would give any nation a powerful - even crippling - advantage. Land, sea, air, space: war can and will be waged there.
Should every prospective space launch from any country be viewed with suspicion? Perhaps, only in the sense that it's absurd to think a nation could ignore opportunities for military technology unlocked by even rudimentary space travel; we could be sure a head of state making grandiose statements of exploration and galactic wonderment would be telling only half the story. But more importantly are the intended uses for such potential. If China were a liberal democracy, the situation would be much, much different. With a century of dictators and their carnage in the industrial age directly behind us, we ought to know better.