NASA Warns China Planning to Build a Lunar Base With Russia to ‘Occupy The Moon’

China is teaming up with Russia to compete against the United States in space, top NASA officials are warning, including plans to build a lunar base on the moon, attempting to claim Earth’s satellite for its own.

Fox News national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin reported on the comments from NASA Administrator Bill Nelson on Wednesday, saying that there were “real fireworks this week coming from Beijing” in response to his warning about a new space race and China’s intentions to “occupy the moon.”

“We must be very concerned about China is landing on the moon and saying: It’s ours now and you stay out,” Nelson said this weekend in an interview with German newsmagazine Bild. China was doing well because “they steal ideas and technology from others,” said Nelson, accusing China of using their space station to study how to destroy other nations’ satellites.

Zhao Lijian, China’s foreign ministry spokesman, fired back at Nelson for what he called “irresponsible remarks,” calling him a liar and accusing him of “smearing China” to “slander China’s normal and reasonable foreign affairs,” Griffin reported.

Nelson shrugged off the Chinese critique in a statement to Fox News: “The Chinese space exploration program is run by their military. This is different from NASA, which has always had a peaceful and open civilian space program with international participation.”

General David Thompson for the Pentagon’s Space Force said the U.S. had concerns about China because they were “building and fielding and updating their space capabilities at twice the rate we are.”

America was the first to land an astronaut on the moon in 1969, Griffin reported, but China had “ramped up” their focus in recent years, including “an uncrewed moon landing in 2013 and plans to send astronauts there in the next six years.”

Earlier today, Griffin continued, the heads of the FBI and British Intelligence gave an “unprecedented joint speech” at MI-5 headquarters in London warning that China was their “biggest game-changing challenge.” According to FBI director Chris Wray, the agency opens a counter intelligence investigation against China every 12 hours, with investigate up “a whopping 1,300%,” said Griffin.

We’re still awaiting word if the FBI has any information on possible alliances between China and the moon’s infamous resident warmonger, Marvin the Martian.

Watch the video above, via Fox News.

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