No satellite chatter in China

Reporters on the Job: It is always a nightmare getting a Chinese official to talk on the record – or even off the record.

I was not surprised when nobody from any of the agencies connected with China’s Global Positioning System (GPS) program agreed to an interview (read the story here). I was surprised, though, to find that scholars and academics involved in international and national security affairs also professed – almost to a person – that they knew nothing about the program.

For some reason, the dispute with Europe over satellite signal frequencies is such a sensitive topic nobody wants to discuss it with a foreign journalist. That suggests to me that maybe China is trying to poke Europe in the eye but nobody will admit it.