three reasons for China's moon probe

ThoughtCo: The Future of Human Space Exploration

UK academics offer three reasons for China's moon probe:
Money, money, and the prospect of more money.

China's military budget includes money for space exploration; the public image created by space exploration is that China has a lot of money; and the 'untapped resources" on the moon are just more money waiting to be harvested. (See "BBC" below.)

Filthy lucre - the stuff that wars are always made of. Canada's Space Agency  pretends to put that last, but we're not fooled:

From Canada.ca:

• The mandate of the Canadian Space Agency is to promote the peaceful use and development of space, to advance the knowledge of space through science and to ensure that space science and technology provide social and economic benefits for Canadians.

 
So, it's no surprise that Canada is easing itself onboard with US preliminaries against China.

BBC: What's behind China's space programme expansion

• Vice-President Mike Pence unveiled plans for a "US Space Force" in August 2018, saying it was needed because "our adversaries have transformed space into a war-fighting domain already".

Pence puffs out his chest and boasts that America's spending is bigger than China's:

• "The US is still a big, big spender - not necessarily through Nasa [the US space agency], but through the Pentagon," he said. "I cannot see China being able to match that level of spending."

Through the Pentagon, eh? That smelly edifice of death and debt - and budget fraud.

One is left to ponder whatever happened to the spiritual wonders and mysteries of our universe, where, though we strut and threaten one another with our imagined superiority, we are smaller than microbes in comparison to the vast reaches of space.

Fortunately, and unlike the western so-called powers:

• "China potentially doesn't view itself as being in a race with anyone".

Still, it went where no country had yet dared to go:

Sky: The Chinese Space Agency has gone where the Americans, Russians and Europeans have yet to go ...

• International treaties stipulate that space is free for all nations to explore and no country can make a sovereign claim on the moon, even if they plant a flag.

So much for the legitimacy of America's mean-spirited attitude.

So much also for the theory that aliens inhabit the dark side of the moon. Or China would have backed off like everybody else, right? Wrong, according to certain believers and, reportedly, the Chinese have themselves suggested as much:

UFOholic (2016): Ever wondered why no one has set foot on the Moon for decades?

• Dr. Michael Salla has pointed out that there is a military industrial extraterrestrial complex (MIEC) on the surface of our ‘natural satellite’, and there’s a strong possibility of an alien regime currently operating on the moon in tandem with humans.
• To support his claims and those of many others, the Chinese have released an intriguing photo of what appears to be an artificial complex operating on the lunar surface. The image represents yet another confirmation of secret operations carried out up there, and it may also reveal that the Chinese government has been in touch with otherworldly visitors. That, in turn, would also explain why China has been investing massively in radio telescopes.

Salla is a pioneer in Exopolitics, a prodigious producer of books, and has his own website.

Sadly, this strongly suggests that "aliens" are not as alien as we imagine, but are equally crass participants in the military/industrial complex. Bummer. I hoped they'd be a cut above humanity.

Now I don't know whether to congratulate the Chinese or to just hold my breath as the West finds more reasons - besides the Huawei incident - to get yet another lucrative (for some) war going.