Strategic Horizons and the High Ground : A Critical Discourse Analysis of China’s Total Space Security

This thesis examines how China’s space strategy is constructed in official party-state discourse within the framework of Total National Security. Drawing on Nyman’s (2023) approach, it analyses Chinese policy documents to show that space is not treated as a separate military or scientific field, but as a cross-cutting security domain linked to development, governance, innovation, and defence. The findings show that space security is mainly framed through long-term planning, technological self-reliance, infrastructure building, and legal governance rather than through militarisation. Space is presented as both strategically vulnerable and vital to national development, which supports state-led coordination and preventive security measures. The analysis also demonstrates that space strategy is closely connected to party-led development, regime legitimacy, and the goal of national rejuvenation. Overall, the thesis argues that China’s approach reflects a form of “total space security” in which security, development, and governance are closely connected, offering a non-Western perspective on how security is understood in emerging strategic domains.