China eyes increased ties with Kiribati, site of space tracking station

China said on Monday it hoped to expand newly restored ties with the Pacific state of Kiribati, site of a strategic but mothballed Chinese space tracking station, in comments that may further stoke U.S. anxiety about Beijing's growing influence. A senior Chinese diplomat said Beijing was "open" to all sorts of projects in Kiribati, an ex-British colony made up mainly of atolls in the central Pacific, in waters dominated by the United States and its allies since World War Two. Speaking to reporters after Chinese President Xi Jinping met Kiribati's President Taneti Maamau in Beijing, the diplomat, Lu Kang, did not respond directly to a question about whether Beijing planned to reopen the space tracking station.

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