![A Long March 2D rocket carrying the Venezuelan remote sensing satellite VRSS-1 lifts off at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center near Jiuquan, China, Sept. 29, 2012 (Photo by Sun Zifa for Imaginechina via AP Images).](https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/l_china-venezuela-rocket-09072018-1.jpg?w=519&h=259&crop=1)
MEDELLIN, Colombia—China has quickly established an extensive track record of using infrastructure spending, on everything from stadiums to ports, to secure resources and bolster trade across Eurasia, Africa and Latin America. Security and space industry analysts now say 2018 has already been a banner year for another part of China’s soft power outreach, as it has sold satellites and support systems to Nigeria, Cambodia and Pakistan. China’s space ambitions are closely tied to its Belt and Road Initiative. By the end of the year, it is expected that a basic system of 18 Chinese BeiDou-3 global positioning satellites will serve […]