SpaceWar.com reports: “The United States has entered a consequential new era of competition with China in space – one that lawmakers said will shape global power, economic security and military advantage for generations.

House Science, Space and Technology Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee Chairman Mike Haridopolos, R-Fla., posed the issue during a hearing Thursday as a question for the future.

‘Will humanity carry forward the American values of economic and political freedom, or those of the Chinese Communist Party? For generations the United States led humanity into space with unmatched ingenuity and without a true rival,’ Haridopolos asked.

During the hearing, witnesses warned of China’s expanding space program. Members of both parties cast the moment as a ‘defining challenge,’ arguing that U.S. leadership in space is at risk as Beijing accelerates its push for dominance.

According to Dean Cheng, senior fellow at The Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, ‘From the [Chinese Communist Party’s] perspective, space contributes to all aspects of comprehensive national power – military, economic, diplomatic, political, scientific and technological, even cultural.’

Committee leaders said China is executing a long-term, whole-of-government strategy to surpass the United States across civil, commercial and military space capabilities. They pointed to Beijing’s plans to land astronauts on the moon by 2030, establish a lunar research base by 2035 and return Mars samples years ahead of NASA…”