Yesterday, China became only the third nation in history to send people into Earth orbit. This has been a goal of the Chinese government for years. Now with a booming economy and a rapidly growing industrial and technological base, China finally has the wherewithal to achieve its space ambitions. The spacecraft China has used for its second space shot in two years is essentially a reconfigured and update Soyuz spacecraft, a design the Soviets pioneered in the 1970s. This mission has no real scientific value, though the Chinese have touted it as an advance for scientific exploration. In reality this launch has two goals, one is to announce to the world that China’s century of dishonor is behind them and they wish to be recognized as a major power in the world, one capable of even exploring the vastness of space, or shower its enemies from above with nuclear warheads. This launch also is intended to rouse nationalistic fervor within the People’s Republic. China has gone out of its way to distract its people from the hard-line reality that is the Chinese Communist Party. They have done so with expert skill, creating a vibrant market economy and embarked on grand public works and national prestige projects, such as the Three Gorges Dam and space exploration. China’s move into space, has no tangible purpose, it is purely a symbolic exercise, just as NASA has lost its purpose. The Chinese lack the skill, money and technology, to break new ground in space exploration, indeed all that the Chinese have accomplished was already achieved 40 years ago. Certainly, there are worse ways to spend money, but one has to ask, how long can the Chinese leadership continue to pull the wool over the eyes of its people? Even if the Chinese walk on the Moon and Mars, the reality remains unchanged and freedom remains just as elusive for the Chinese people.
http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-10-12-voa5.cfm