In the foothills of the Argentine Andes, the enormous Chinese radio telescope sits in one of the world’s premier stargazing locations, surrounded by vast, undulating mountain ranges and beneath skies untouched by light pollution. It is also on the opposite side of the planet from Beijing, offering China a window on the half of the heavens it would not otherwise see.

在阿根廷安第斯山脉的山麓地带，这座巨大的中国射电望远镜坐落于世界顶级观星地之一，四周环绕着辽阔起伏的山脉，头顶是未受光污染影响的纯净夜空。该望远镜也位于北京在地球对侧的位置，为中国开启了一扇窗口，得以观测另一半它原本无法观测的天空。

But the Chinese telescope at the site, the Cesco observatory in San Juan Province, picks up no signals. After the U.S. government repeatedly pressed them on the issue, the Argentine authorities stopped the project’s completion. Lacking key parts, the telescope now sits dismembered, its gigantic antenna pointing blindly at the sky.

然而，这座位于圣胡安省塞斯科天文台的中国望远镜，如今无法接收任何信号。在美国政府就此事反复施压后，阿根廷当局叫停了该项目建设。由于关键部件缺失，望远镜如今处于解体状态，巨大的天线茫然地指向天空。

As the United States increasingly views Beijing as a rival in space, the stars above South America have become flash points in a geopolitical struggle, with top American officials trying to halt astronomy projects in the Andean deserts out of fear China could use them for military purposes.

随着美国日益将中国视为太空领域的竞争对手，南美洲上空的星空已成为地缘政治博弈的焦点。美国高层官员试图阻止安第斯沙漠中的天文项目，担心中国可能将其用于军事目的。

The Trump administration says it is enforcing an updated Monroe Doctrine, in part to counter China’s growing footprint in the Western Hemisphere. China is a key trading partner for many countries in Latin America, and it is trying to build scientific and security ties. Its relations in the region could come up in official talks this week in Beijing between President Trump and Xi Jinping, China’s leader.

特朗普政府表示，正在推行更新版的门罗主义，部分目的是遏制中国在西半球日益增长的影响力。中国是拉美多国的重要贸易伙伴，并致力于构建科技与安全合作关系。本周，特朗普总统将与中国国家主席习近平在北京举行正式会谈，双方或提及中国在该地区的关系问题。

Last year, Argentina’s neighbor Chile stopped a Chinese astronomical observatory project in the Atacama Desert after strong urging from a U.S. ambassador. And in the case of the Cesco observatory’s Chinese radio telescope project — which would be the largest of its kind in South America — authorities have held some key, final parts for it at customs for about nine months.

去年，在美方大使的强烈敦促下，阿根廷的邻国智利叫停了中国在阿塔卡马沙漠建设天文观测站的项目。塞斯科天文台的中国射电望远镜项目建成后将成为南美同类设施中规模最大的，其部分关键收尾部件已被阿根廷海关扣留约九个月。

According to a document from the Argentine government’s cabinet chief, procedural violations in renewing the deal with China prevented the project from going forward. The government declined to comment on whether the U.S. diplomacy played a role in the decision.

阿根廷政府内阁首席部长的一份文件显示，与中国续签协议过程中存在程序违规，导致项目无法推进。对于美国外交施压是否影响了该决定，阿根廷政府拒绝置评。

几位天文学家正在一架位于中国未完工射电望远镜附近的望远镜旁工作。

But current and former American officials, some of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomacy, said the U.S. government had repeatedly expressed concerns with the Argentine authorities about the Chinese telescope, worried it could be used to track U.S. satellites and communicate with Chinese ones.

但多位现任及前任美国官员（因涉及敏感外交事务，部分人要求匿名）表示，美国政府已就中国射电望远镜项目多次向阿根廷当局表达关切，担心其可用于追踪美国卫星并与中国卫星通信。

The campaign began during the Biden administration and continued under President Trump.

这一施压行动始于拜登政府时期，并在特朗普总统任期内持续进行。

Argentine astronomers, who have spent most of their lives observing stars light years away, have received a crash course in earthly politics.

阿根廷的天文学家们毕生都在观测数光年外的恒星，如今却不得不仓促学习现实政治。

Scientists had looked forward to sharing the telescope with China and other nations. Then they learned that the U.S. effort to check China had reached the deserts of South America, threatening their search into the vastness of space.

科学家们曾期待与中国及其他国家共享这座望远镜，如今却发现，美国遏制中国的举措已延伸至南美沙漠，威胁着他们探索浩瀚宇宙的计划。

“We are stuck in a political black hole,” said Ana Maria Pacheco, 61, an astronomer.

61岁的天文学家安娜·玛丽亚·帕切科说：“我们陷进了一个政治黑洞里。”

The State Department did not reply to requests for comment.

美国国务院未回应置评请求。

In 2015, as China was expanding its presence across South America, the Chinese military built another facility, a $50 million satellite and space mission control station in Neuquén Province, in Argentina’s Patagonian desert. Argentina gave China the use of the land where the station was built, rent free, for 50 years.

2015年，中国在南美影响力持续扩大之际，中国军方在阿根廷巴塔哥尼亚沙漠的内乌肯省建造了另一处设施——一座耗资5000万美元的卫星及航天任务控制站。阿根廷将该中心所在地块无偿租借给中国，租期50年。

For China hawks in Washington, that Patagonian base became a symbol of how Argentina was being pulled into China’s orbit, and the site’s antenna there stands as a 450-ton cautionary tale.

对于华盛顿的对华鹰派而言，这座巴塔哥尼亚基地成为阿根廷被拉入中国势力范围的象征，基地内450吨重的天线俨然是一则警示寓言。

The Trump administration has forged a tight bond with Javier Milei, Argentina’s right-wing president, and aided him with a $20 billion lifeline ahead of key midterm elections last year.

特朗普政府与阿根廷右翼总统哈维尔·米莱建立了紧密关系，并在去年关键中期选举前向其提供200亿美元的救命钱。

While running for president, Mr. Milei expressed hostility toward China. But after being elected in 2023, he softened his tone, perhaps facing the reality that China’s economy is entwined with that of Argentina through trade, infrastructure, mining projects and financial assistance, just as it is in other Latin American countries.

米莱竞选总统期间曾对中国持敌对态度，但2023年当选后态度软化。这或许是因为他意识到，阿根廷的经济已通过贸易、基建、矿业项目及金融援助与中国深度绑定，拉美多国亦是如此。

U.S. officials say they are aware that dislodging China from Latin America will be hard. Still, they see the frozen gears of the San Juan radio telescope — which was built in partnership between the National University of San Juan and the National Astronomical Observatory of China — as a sign that U.S. diplomacy can help thwart aspects of China’s space ambitions, and perhaps its military ones too.

美国官员表示，将中国逐出拉美并非易事。尽管如此，他们仍将圣胡安射电望远镜的停滞——该项目由圣胡安国立大学与中国国家天文台合作建设——视为美国外交能够牵制中国的太空野心、或许也包括军事野心的例证。

The Chinese Embassy in Buenos Aires said in a statement that the U.S. was “looking for an excuse to contain and suppress China.” They said the project was aimed at promoting scientific progress in both Argentina and China, with benefits for all of humanity. They called the American position “ridiculous and regrettable.”

中国驻布宜诺斯艾利斯大使馆发表声明称，美方是在“找借口遏制打压中国”，强调该项目旨在推动阿中两国科技进步，造福全人类，指责美方立场“荒谬且令人遗憾”。

When the Chilean observatory project was halted last year, the Chinese Embassy in Santiago said in a statement that the United States also uses telescopes in Chile and accused it of a “pure and simple manifestation of hegemonism.”

去年智利天文台项目被叫停时，中国驻圣地亚哥大使馆发表声明，指出美国也在智利使用射电望远镜，指责其行径是“赤裸裸的霸权主义”。

The United States does have a significant astronomical presence in South America, with NASA using several space stations to track satellites.

美国在南美确实拥有相当规模的天文设施，NASA使用多个空间站开展卫星追踪工作。

Stargazing With China

与中国共探星空

圣胡安国立大学天文学家埃里克·冈萨雷斯（左），他站在这座尚未完工的中国望远镜的地下室里。埃尔莱翁西托的塞斯科天文台内，几位天文学家站在一座射电台旁。这里的天空被认为是世界上最适合研究太空的地方之一。

The Argentine observatory in San Juan where the disputed Chinese telescope stands was inaugurated in the 1960s in partnership with Yale and Columbia University. Argentina has some of the world’s clearest, cloudless skies, and German, Russian and Brazilian institutions built telescopes that now dot the observatory’s grounds. Construction has started on a new telescope in collaboration with the University of Texas.

圣胡安省这座存有争议的中国望远镜所在的阿根廷天文台是在20世纪60年代与耶鲁大学、哥伦比亚大学合作建成的。阿根廷拥有全球最澄澈的少云天空，德国、俄罗斯、巴西等国机构在此建设的望远镜如今点缀在这座天文台的场地中。目前，与得克萨斯大学合作的新望远镜已开始建设。

But the venture with China tested the limits of this astronomical cosmopolitanism.

但与中国的合作项目却考验着这种天文国际主义的极限。

The China Argentina Radio Telescope was a $32 million investment that started about 15 years ago. It has a 130-foot-wide antenna: a gigantic satellite dish that allows scientists to capture invisible radio waves from space to map the birth of stars and distant galaxies. It is thanks to these types of telescopes that astronomers captured the first-ever image of a black hole in 2019.

中阿射电望远镜项目总投资3200万美元，约15年前启动。望远镜配备了直径约40米的巨大卫星碟形天线，可捕捉宇宙中的不可见射电波，助力科学家绘制恒星与遥远星系的诞生图景。正是借助这类望远镜，天文学家于2019年首次拍到黑洞照片。

In 2023, 100 trucks carrying the telescope’s enormous iron components wound their way up narrow mountain roads to the observatory. Along with the machinery came a team of Chinese technicians who took up residence in Barreal, the nearest town, where horses and cows wander past low-slung houses.

2023年，100辆卡车装载着望远镜的巨型铁制构件，沿着狭窄山路蜿蜒而上运抵天文台。随行的还有中国技术团队，他们驻扎在附近的巴雷亚尔小镇，在那里低矮的房屋旁边，牛马悠闲地漫步。

From early in the Biden administration, top White House national security officials and State Department diplomats were aware of the project. In August 2021, Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, and Juan Gonzalez, the top White House adviser on Latin America, raised the issue during a visit to Buenos Aires, Mr. Gonzalez said.

拜登政府上任初期，白宫国家安全官员与国务院外交官便已知晓该项目。白宫拉丁美洲事务高级顾问胡安·冈萨雷斯称，2021年8月，国家安全顾问杰克·沙利文与他本人在访问布宜诺斯艾利斯期间，就曾提出该问题。

The American officials told Alberto Fernández, then the president of Argentina, that they were concerned about several Chinese projects, including the radio telescope, a port in Ushuaia in the far south, and the base in Neuquén, he said.

冈萨雷斯表示，美方官员向时任阿根廷总统阿尔韦托·费尔南德斯表达了对阿根廷多个中国项目的担忧，包括这座射电望远镜、阿根廷最南端乌斯怀亚的港口，以及位于内乌肯省的那座基地。

The Argentine president said he would ensure the projects were not used for military purposes, Mr. Gonzalez said, but a 50-year lease on the land in Neuquén meant China had a strong legal case to continue using that site.

冈萨雷斯说，阿根廷总统承诺确保这些项目不用于军事目的，但内乌肯土地50年的租约，意味着中国拥有继续使用该设施的坚实法律依据。

American officials, in diplomatic conversations, pushed harder on the radio telescope project in San Juan.

在外交磋商中，美国官员对圣胡安射电望远镜项目的态度更加强硬。

The Trump administration kept up the pressure. In February 2025, Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed “space collaboration” with Gerardo Werthein, Argentina’s foreign minister at the time, according to a State Department summary of the call.

特朗普政府延续了施压态势。国务院通话纪要显示，2025年2月，国务卿鲁比奥与时任阿根廷外长赫拉多·韦尔海恩就“太空合作”问题进行了讨论。

That spring, experts from the Sandia lab in Albuquerque, run by the Department of Energy, traveled to Buenos Aires to brief Argentine officials about the possible risks posed by the Chinese telescope, American officials said.

美国官员称，同年春季，美国能源部管理下的阿尔伯克基桑迪亚国家实验室的专家前往布宜诺斯艾利斯，向阿根廷官员说明该中国望远镜可能带来的风险。

At the State Department’s urging, the office of the U.S. trade representative included language in a new bilateral trade agreement that tried to limit Argentina’s ability to work with China on space projects.

在国务院敦促下，美国贸易代表办公室在新的双边贸易协定中加入相关条款，试图限制阿根廷与中国在航天项目上的合作。

The document says Argentina must cooperate with “U.S. government technical experts to implement sufficient control measures at space installations operated by other countries to ensure their exclusively civilian use.”

该文件规定，阿根廷须与“美国政府技术专家合作，在他国运营的太空设施中实施充分管控措施，确保其仅用于民用目的”。

Argentina’s agreement with China to build the telescope expired last summer. Shortly after, customs authorities froze some key parts of the antenna in the port of Buenos Aires.

阿中望远镜合作协议于去年夏天到期。此后不久，阿根廷海关在布宜诺斯艾利斯港扣留了其天线的部分关键部件。