Chile Reviews Chinese Observatory Plans Slammed by U.S.

Chile said Wednesday it was reviewing an agreement for the construction of a Chinese astronomical observatory on its soil, a project that has drawn criticism from Washington as it jostles with Beijing for influence in Latin America.

Under an agreement signed by President Xi Jinping in 2016 with Chile’s Catholic University of the North (UCN), the Ventarrones Astronomical Park was to be built in Chile’s Atacama desert — home to the world’s darkest skies and numerous other observatories.

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