A CCTV program revealed on June 8 that the United States cut off GPS navigation signals in the early 90’s and left a Chinese cargo ship stranded and adrift in the Indian Ocean for 33 days. The vessel was ultimately forced to accept a boarding inspection by U.S. personnel — and the humiliating episode gave China a sobering lesson in the strategic importance of navigation technology, setting the country on the arduous path of developing its own BeiDou satellite system.
"Changan Street Insider" — a WeChat public account under Beijing Daily — reported that CCTV disclosed the 1993 incident during a program titled "Spacesail Constellation Accelerates Network Deployment: China's Low-Orbit Satellite Internet Launches Its Strategic Breakthrough." The program laid bare how the U.S. leveraged GPS as a strategic chokehold on China.
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In 1993, the U.S. cut off GPS signals — leaving China's cargo vessel Yinhe adrift in the Indian Ocean for 33 days, then forced into a U.S. boarding inspection.
The episode was a wake-up call: China's navigation lifeline had to be its own. BeiDou was born.
China launched the Spacesail Constellation program in 2021.
Spacesail is now launching at a relentless pace — and closing the gap fast.
In late 2025, China filed to register orbital resources for 203,000 additional satellites across 14 constellations.
In 1993, the U.S. cut off GPS signals — leaving China's cargo vessel Yinhe adrift in the Indian Ocean for 33 days, then forced into a U.S. boarding inspection.
As China's cargo vessel Yinhe was sailing through international waters in the Indian Ocean, the United States abruptly cut off GPS signals in that sea area. The Yinhe lost all navigational bearings and drifted helplessly for 33 days. It was then forced to submit to a U.S. boarding inspection.
This was not an isolated incident. The repeated episodes drove home a single, unambiguous conclusion for China: the lifeline of positioning and navigation must be in its own hands. From that point on, China embarked on the long and difficult road of independently developing the BeiDou system.
The episode was a wake-up call: China's navigation lifeline had to be its own. BeiDou was born.
In 2020, the BeiDou-3 global network was completed, and China finally reclaimed control over its own navigation. But even as that battle was won, a new one was opening — and the window was closing fast.
In low-Earth orbit, the available space and timing for China become more limited by the day. Elon Musk's Starlink has been occupying that territory at an unprecedented pace. As of June this year, Starlink has more than 12,400 active satellites in orbit — accounting for over 60% of all active satellites globally.
China is also facing a rapidly closing window of opportunity. The International Telecommunication Union operates on a "first filed, first served" principle. Whoever launches first and begins providing service wins priority rights — and the clock ticks for everyone equally.
China launched the Spacesail Constellation program in 2021.
In 2021, China began developing the "Spacesail Constellation" — formally named as the Global Multimedia Satellite System. Its primary target markets are countries co-building the Belt and Road Initiative, Chinese companies expanding overseas, and regions that Starlink cannot reach or has been cut off from due to political factors.
Spacesail is now launching at a relentless pace — and closing the gap fast.
The Spacesail Constellation is planned in three phases. Phase one targets 1,296 satellites, expected to be completed by 2027. Phase two will add approximately 10,000 more satellites, with the aim of exceeding a 10,000-satellite network by 2030. Phase three ultimately targets more than 15,000 satellites, supporting integrated multimedia and remote sensing capabilities within the 6G ecosystem.
In late 2025, China filed to register orbital resources for 203,000 additional satellites across 14 constellations.
In December 2025, China submitted a filing to the ITU that sent shockwaves through the global aerospace community. The application sought to register frequency and orbital resources for an additional 203,000 satellites, covering 14 satellite constellations including both medium and low-Earth orbit satellites. It is the largest concentrated international frequency and orbital registration submission China has ever made.
Every satellite launched under the Spacesail Constellation is filling a closing window of time. From the first experimental satellite in 2003 to the intensive launch campaigns of June 2026, the Spacesail Constellation is catching up at a visibly rapid pace. This is not merely a commercial race — it is a strategic breakthrough that China cannot afford to lose.
Mao Paishou
** 博客文章文責自負,不代表本公司立場 **
Bloomberg reported on October 14 local time that the EU is negotiating with China. Brussels hopes Beijing will lift sanctions on the small German company Sindlhauser Materials GmbH. That small firm supplies the Dutch ASML, the world's most important chip equipment manufacturer. The sanctions now threaten its survival.
EU seeks China deal to free ASML supplier Sindlhauser.
The Deal on the Table
Bloomberg cited people in the know as saying the EU will remove trade restrictions on an unnamed Chinese company in exchange. That company is accused of assisting Russia in launching war against Ukraine.
In July this year, China imposed sanctions on Sindlhauser and 13 other European companies. The move retaliated for the EU's 21st round of sanctions against Russia. Sindlhauser is a small German company specializing in precision manufacturing and advanced coating technology for semiconductors and other industries.
In that round of sanctions, the EU listed several Chinese entities as sanctions targets. The EU said they were suspected of providing Russia with key components that could be used to manufacture weapons. Companies placed on the relevant EU and Chinese lists are subject to export controls.
People familiar with the matter said Sindlhauser relies on Chinese supplies of rare earths and critical minerals. If China's sanctions continue, the company will face the risk of bankruptcy within the coming months. It was also said this German company is part of ASML's supply chain.
ASML, Dutch semiconductor equipment giant.
Berlin and Brussels Race to Rescue Sindlhauser
Bloomberg sees a message in China's choice of target. Imposing controls on such an obscure company, the report argues, shows China knows exactly where Europe's economic bottlenecks sit.
An EU official says the European Union has begun discussions with China on whether each side would remove the entities from its own list. That means China's export control framework on one side, and the entities the EU has listed under its own regulations on the other.
The official added that any removal decision on the EU side would require unanimous support from all member states.
The trouble began in July when China's Ministry of Commerce put Sindlhauser on its export control list, and the company's first reaction was panic.
For weeks after the announcement, Sindlhauser had no clear view of whether, or how, it could keep operating.
Help came quickly. According to the people who knows what’s happening, the German government and the Bavarian state government, where Sindlhauser is headquartered, stepped in immediately to help the company find alternative suppliers wherever possible.
The two governments also explored other workarounds, such as recycling existing materials and seeking whatever financial support was available.
Brussels was watching too. Some officials there understood the company's plight and raised the matter with the Chinese side for several weeks.
Sindlhauser's rare earth supply nearly all Chinese.
A Policy Dilemma, an Intelligence Blind Spot
Sindlhauser sits squarely inside China's rare earth grip. According to the report, the company relies almost entirely on Chinese rare earths, and its placement on the export control list dealt a direct blow to its supply chain.
The company had previously taken almost no measures to diversify its supply sources or reduce its dependence on Chinese raw materials.
Some officials see a problem with the rescue. Removing companies such as Sindlhauser from the sanctions list, they worry, could once again weaken the urgency for these European companies to build supply chain networks outside China.
That leaves the German government and EU officials in a bind. Deciding through negotiations which companies go onto or come off trade restriction lists could set a bad precedent for other companies also hoping for sanctions exemptions. It would also mean the EU must make concessions on the question of certain Chinese entities.
But officials involved in handling the matter see a deeper problem. The situation behind the case, they argue, is more concerning, though not surprising.
The explanation: over the past year and a half, China has been collecting information on global supply chains as much as it possibly can. That is how China identified a small company in Bavaria as a supplier to the world's most important chip equipment manufacturer.
Beijing's map of global supply chains runs remarkably deep. The report credits that insight to the licensing system China has built for exports of critical minerals and rare earths.
The system requires foreign companies to submit detailed information, including their customers, how and where Chinese raw materials are used, and photos of the final products.
Germany shows the cost. Some companies have been leaking business secrets to China, while the German government remained completely unaware and unable to obtain the same or even similar information.
More important, the German government still has not formulated any strategy to address its shortcomings in economic intelligence.
A Possible Template, and China's Stated Position
The talks went straight to the top. According to the report, EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič visited Beijing last week and met with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao. The two sides discussed lifting restrictions on Sindlhauser in exchange for relief for a Chinese company.
EU trade chief Šefčovič met Wang Wentao in Beijing.
The backdrop is stark. The EU is hunting for a fix to a massive trade deficit that exceeds $1 billion every single day.
People familiar with the matter say the two sides agreed in Beijing to strengthen information sharing and to give each other advance notice of export restriction measures.
The "one-for-one" arrangement around Sindlhauser, in which each side takes the other's company off its restriction list, could become a template for similar moves in the future. The EU is expected to act first. Only then would China lift its restrictions on the German company.
China's message has stayed consistent. The Chinese side has repeatedly stressed that China holds an objective and impartial position on the Ukraine crisis, stays committed to promoting peace talks, and plays a constructive role in advancing a political resolution of the crisis.
The opposition is just as firm. China firmly rejects the EU's blame-shifting, smears and denigration over the Ukraine crisis. It equally and firmly opposes the EU's unjustified listing and sanctions against Chinese companies and citizens.
