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China aims to launch 10 satellites into space this year.
There are also plans for a second manned space flight which
will carry more than one astronaut.
The announcement came as US President George W. Bush revealed
plans to
replace America's ageing fleet of space shuttles with a new
generation of
spaceships that could take US astronauts back to the moon
and on to Mars.
Is it a coincidence that both China and the US are setting
theirs sights on space missions to the moon at about the same
time?
Valarie Tan put both questions to Professor Michael Davis,
Director of Graduate Programmes in law and public affairs
at the China University of Hong Kong.
MD: China, has been, for some time now, trying to develop
its space capacities. They have, recently, sent man flight
into space. Bush, its hard to know whats the source of it.
One suspects, of course, upcoming elections, trying to show
a bit of vision as it were, regarding space mission, also
attractive for him. What it means in terms of the US budget
crisis, its hard to predict. And that's a big problem in the
US. Bush still manages to get support but the IMF has recently
condemned his fiscal policies. Former secretary of the treasury,
Mr Rupert has come out and and condemned them. So his critics
are seemingly getting very vocal. And so we can expect in
the election that the huge deficit that the Bush
administration is running up to be an issue. He seems to have
underestimated at least in his critics' eyes the costs of
expanded space programs. Where all these take us is anyone's
guess.
Will we see a 'space race' like the one that happened between
the former Soviet Union and the USA in the 1950s?
MD: I'm somewhat doubtful. Of course, its possible that it
will turn that way. And there will certainly be elements of
that, because the Chinese government understands that doing
well in space will certainly enhance its relative standing
in the world and in terms of security. So there's so, shall
we say, on each side, some selfish motives to move forward
with space programs. But at the same time, the United States
is way ahead of China in space. And the Bush administration
has in its press statements has suggested cooperation with
other countries in its ambitions for flight from the moon
ultimately to Mars. One really can't say for sure, But it
seems there should be elements of cooperation as well. So
competition as well as cooperation.
China, in launching its first man to space last year, joined
the so-called elite club of nations like Russia and USA, to
have achieved the same feat. And now, China is announcing
plans to do more space missions. Do you think this is one
of the ways in which China will rise up to superpower status
in Asia?
MD: Well, certainly China has aspirations to have a firm
grip on its security needs in Asia. And to some extent, some
of us might call this a kind of superpower aspiration. But
I think, in general, China's security posture and its defence
capabilities are certainly nowhere near that of a superpower
like United States at the moment. So space certainly factors
into changing that equation a bit, I guess. Because generally,
countries who have been the superpowers have also been very
active in space. And there's a kind of residue affecting their
security area because of the benefits and technology of space.
So as they develop this technical capacity, they will also
have a chance to test the capacity in regard to defence. So
I think there will be certainly a positive effect on China's
relative status in Asia as a consequence of its ambitions
in space. But I
wouldn't expect it to be direct and immediate.
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