Why does China need U.S. satellite support?

This report from the Pentagon’s public affairs office raises some interesting questions:

WASHINGTON, May 19, 2008 – The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency is expected to provide satellite images to China as soon as today to assist in damage assessments in earthquake-stricken Sichuan province, a senior defense official said today.

The People’s Republic of China specifically requested imagery of dams, reservoirs, roads and bridges, said Bryan Whitman, deputy assistant secretary of defense for public affairs. Weather permitting and if cloud cover doesn’t hamper the effort, the first images are expected to be delivered today, he said.

Why would China need this type of assistance from the U.S. Department of Defense? What might it say, if anything, about China’s own ability to produce such imagery?

Or might the PLA be using the earthquake tragedy as an opportunity to compare its imagery results with the American version? Anticipating this possibility, is the NGIA altering the images it provides the Chinese in order to keep secret the true capabilities of its systems?

The victims of the Sichuan earthquakes deserve all the assistance, in whatever form, they can get. But this report raises some interesting questions about Chinese strategic capabilities along with possible deception operations, conducted by both sides.