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1/ In the last two months, @vaterlandnews has, with help from @sinopsiscz, been covering a PRC-European group's bid for Liechtenstein satellite frequencies. We found out that a PRC unit calling itself a "front in the dual-use satellites area" is part of it https://www.vaterland.li/liechtenstein/wirtschaft/ein-minderheitsaktionaer-mit-grosser-naehe-zum-chinesischen-militaer;art173,445149
2/ Early this year, Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology Ltd announced, via news ads, its bid for satellite frequencies soon available in Liechtenstein. It promised a purely civilian project with major benefits for the principality and Europe as a whole.
3/ The company has a 42% stake in PRC-German-Liechtenstein firm KLEO Connect. When first contacted, the company spokesperson claimed these are all private entities, but soon after had to admit that the PRC state is involved, as the Shanghai company is around 70% state-owned.
4/ The op seemed similar to the @WSJ story about CITIC using an off-shore company to access US satellite technology for security ops. Oddly enough, acc to #ParadisePapers one of the persons involved in this project used to work for the CITIC shell. https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-exploits-fleet-of-u-s-satellites-to-strengthen-police-and-military-power-11556031771
5/ The only org in the PRC ownership structure clearly working in satellites is the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Shanghai Engineering Center for Micro-satellites 上海微小卫星工程中心 (SECM)/ Innovation Academy for Micro-satellites of the CAS 中国科学院微小卫星创新研究院 (IAMCAS).
6/ The dual-name research unit was established as SECM in 2003. Its staff has military and space program background and it was described by the Academy as an important part of its military-civilian fusion program. It also supplies the PLA and attends security-themed events.
7/ The center's director Gong Jiancun 龚建村, awarded by the PLA for his contribution to manned spaceflight, is the "commander-in-chief" of the Beidou-3 satellite fleet. The navigation system, developed using know-how from the European Galileo, has wide military applications.
8/ KLEO's representatives have so far failed to explain what benefits it will bring to Europe and what jobs will be created as financing, know-how and significant part of management seems to come from the PRC. The whole project also appears to worry the local regulator.
9/ When Dorothea Alber from @vaterlandnews asked to talk with somebody on the European side who knows the technical details, she was introduced to a German citizen with no official role in the project. He again did not provide Alber with the technicalities she wanted.
10/ It would appear the European side of the project is a shell used to get the frequencies, while actual operations will be located in the PRC. Apart from the obvious security risks underscored by the strange messaging, it's unclear how this will benefit Liechtenstein or Europe.
