Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


    October 05, 2011

China Space Launch Sparks Nationalistic Speculations

   Alice Xin Liu | Beijing
   Exhibition visitor stands near the Shenzhou 5 re-entry capsule in
   Beijing, July 6, 2011 (file photo).
   Photo: AP
   In this July 6, 2011 photo, a visitor stands near the Shenzhou 5
   re-entry capsule, that was used in China's first human spaceflight
   mission, and the the space suit worn by crew member Yang Liwei at an
   exhibition in Beijing, China.

   China's recent launch of an habitable space laboratory module has
   sparked a new round of speculations on forums dedicated to China's
   military strength.

   Tiangong-1, which means Heaven Palace-1, was launched in China on
   September 29 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. It is China's
   first space lab module that has the capacity to carry humans.

   The first 'taikonaut' (Chinese astronaut) in orbit was in 2003, and the
   Yinghuo-1, a Russian-Chinese robot probe to Mars, will be launched in
   2013. Tiangong-1 is an ongoing effort in China's space ambitions and
   the first step to building a successful space station.

   Online, nationalistic forums dedicated to analyzing China's military
   strength have been eagerly speculating on the launch's significance.
   Those same forums were focused in July maiden voyage of on China's
   first ever aircraft carrier.

   Anti-cnn.com, founded in 2008 by a nationalistic student. The website,
   now renamed M4.cn, is a platform for nationalistic youth.

   After the launch,[1]huangzhongsong said:

     'I support the development of manned spacecrafts. It's not wasting
     resources. What is the waste of manpower and resources? It's when
     the US invaded Iraq and Afghanistan!'
     æ¯æåå±è½½äººèªå¤©,ä»ä¹å«å³æ°ä¼¤è´¢ï¼ç¾å½ä¾µç¥ä¼æååé¿å¯æ±æè±è´¹çåè´¹å
     ªæå«å³æ°ä¼¤è´¢ï¼

   Commenter [2]qushichen wrote:

     'China already missed out on the oceans. It cannot for anything miss
     out on the skies!' Hooray for Chinese scientists!
     ä¸å½å·²ç»éè¿äºæµ·æ´æ¶ä»£å³ä¸è½åéè¿å¤ªç©º ä¸å½çç§å¦å®¶å æ²¹ï¼ï¼

   Commenters see both the US and Russia as China's competitors. User
   '[3]tylz' wrote about why America is perceived to be number one on the
   Yingshang government website's forum:

     'The States are running wild in the world, and openly showed
     contempt for international law. What are they relying on? The
     all-conquering, powerful weapons, or more specifically, 11 Carrier
     Battle Groups, the biggest nuclear arsenal in the world, precise
     guided weapons, and the most advanced stealth fighters'¦ '
     ç¾å½è½æ¨ªè¡ä¸çï¼å¬ç¶èè§å½éæ³ï¼ä¾é çæ¯ä»ä¹ï¼æ¯æ åä¸æ§ç强大æ­
     ¦å¨ï¼å·ä½ç说就æ¯11个èªæ¯ææ群ï¼æ¯æ¥æä¸çä¸æå¤§æ ¸æ¦åºä»¥åå°æ ¸æ­
     ¦å¨æåæ人弹é导弹ï¼æ¯ç²¾ç¡®çå¶å¯¼æ¦å¨ï¼æ¯æåè¿çéå½¢ææº

   Users on the military forum of the most popular web portal, Sina, also
   challenged the United States. [4]'BrightTimesXi'an' said:

     'The technology of this Tiangong-1 is more advanced than America's
     space technology when they were doing this.'
     è¿ä¸ªå¤©å®«ä¸å·æ¯ç¾å½å½æ¶çèªå¤©ææ¯åè¿

   On the popular [5]'Flying Military' forum, user 'zhenqianga' attracted
   two pages of comments when he outlined the benefits of developing a
   space program for a developing nation. However, 'zhenqianga' was quick
   to point out that developing a space program had more nationalistic
   uses:

     'Our nation has successfully launched the Tiangong preliminary space
     lab probe.There are huge numbers of Taiwan and Japanese internet
     devils trying to create public opinion by saying there are still
     many poor children that need to be fed. So money shouldn't be spent
     on Tiangong or Shenzhou [spacecraft], right? This is an effort to
     misdirect public opinion."
     æå½æååå°'天宫'å级太空ç«ï¼'¨'¨ä¸æ¶é´æ大æ¹å°æ¥ç½é¬¼åæ°è¿é è论è¯
     ´ä¸å½è¿æå¾å¤ç©·å©åéè¦é±çå°æ¹å¾å¤ãä¸åºææéçé±è±å¨å¤©å®«ç¥èä¸ï¼
     è¿æ¯å¨ææ误导ä¸å½è论ã

References

   1. http://bbs.m4.cn/space-uid-7071.html
   2. http://bbs.m4.cn/space-uid-195288.html
   3. http://bbs.ahys.gov.cn/home.php?mod=space&uid=9563
   4. http://club.mil.news.sina.com.cn/viewthread.php?tid=401610&extra=page%3D1&page=3
   5. http://www.fyjs.cn/bbs/htm_data/159/1109/565775.html

.