A provocative new satellite named Omid (Hope), which was launched by Iran last week, has certainly made its mark in space. For China, Omid represents an unusual opportunity, indeed a gift from Iran. The longstanding debate about China’s role with Iran in space has suddenly changed.
Now China has a chance to step onto the world stage as the world evaluates what Iran is doing, and whether or not China is true to its word when it talks about its peaceful activities in space – which definitely involves its longstanding relationship with Iran.
Unfortunately, China often does a poor job of getting its message out, and Beijing is not getting the job done here either. In other
