It looks like China will take the lead in global efforts to detect extraterrestrial radio signals in the near future. But will he begin to disclose such a contact to the world community, if it takes place?
When we think about how the first contact with an extraterrestrial civilization might occur, we tend to imagine either globally coordinated international cooperation, or the stereotypical scenario "UFO lands right on the White House lawn." And even when it comes to tracking extraterrestrial radio signals - than SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, which means: "Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence") has been engaged for years - each of us is confident that there is worldwide cooperation and that the results obtained are available to all partners and scientists in the world. But what if one country really succeeded in doing this and chose not to share the discovery of extraterrestrial signals with others?
China's five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST), which was commissioned in Guizhou province earlier this year, is today the world's largest radio telescope. With a primary mirror of approximately 520 meters in diameter, it collects an incredibly large amount of electromagnetic radiation for optical imaging and provides short exposure times. With the vast resources currently available to the country, Chinese scientists and engineers are currently working on plans for a massive new search for signs that we are not alone in the universe. But will China be ready to share such a monumental discovery?
“FAST is a leap forward for Asia's presence in radio astronomy and possibly SETI. Indeed, the Chinese can now become key players in SETI research, if they so choose. After the end of World War II, most areas of science were dominated by the Americans and other Western countries, as well as the USSR. But China is currently catching up and even surpassing Western advances in many areas, says Michael Michaud, author of Contact with Alien Civilizations: Our Hopes and Fears about Encountering Extraterrestrial. and fears about aliens”) in an interview with Space.com. According to Michaud, China has a huge pool of scientific and technological talents. Moreover, the nation has an authoritarian government,which can use resources as it sees fit without significant political opposition.
Thanks to the new telescope, China can not only receive signals, but also send them. And what happens if he first comes into contact with an alien civilization? Such questions are, of course, hypothetical, and it is highly unlikely that China or anyone else will be able to communicate with aliens in the near future. After all, the distances in space are so great that the passage of a radio signal to the nearest potentially inhabited planet will take several decades, and the answer will take at least the same amount of time. However, there are legitimate doubts that China will communicate its contact to the rest of the world. Based on China's behavior to date on other issues that have had global implications (SARS-CoV, etc.), it can be assumed that they will first try to use it exclusively for their own interests.
Although, it is likely that our doubts in this regard may turn out to be unnecessary at all. After all, why did we decide that an advanced alien race would generally be interested in communicating with us?