China Showcases Space Program

JIUQUAN, China - Rising space power China provided a rare peek into its top-secret launch center Wednesday, capitalizing on its recent success in orbit to promote the military-funded project as a lure for foreign investment and a key to growing prosperity.

A police car with flashing lights led busloads of international journalists across northwestern China's vast Gobi Desert to the Jiuquan space center, past armored patrol vehicles and a sign, in English: "Foreigners are not allowed to enter without permission."

It was the first time China let foreigners enter, though officials forbade photographs of the command-and-control center with its rows of computer screens or the mammoth assembly hall where workers built the spacecraft that lifted China's first astronaut into orbit last October.

For the secrecy-conscious national government, Jiuquan houses treasures to be guarded closely. But to local officials, Jiuquan is a blue-ribbon brand name just waiting to be marketed far and wide.

"No matter what products are named after Jiuquan, they will sell," said Hao Yuan, assistant to the governor of Gansu province, where part of the space center is located.

"We welcome foreign cooperation in the fields of aerospace and aviation," Hao said. "We would also like to provide launch services to foreign companies."

Like most local officials, Hao has never visited the Jiuquan space center. But it was officials in Gansu who lobbied Beijing to open it up. "Otherwise, few reporters would come here," he said.

China stands to reap big benefits from good publicity about its space program — both in the economic potential it represents and the national prestige it encourages at home and abroad.

Located on a sprawling 2,000 square miles, the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center is an island of technological achievement in one of the country's poorest regions. Farm incomes in nearby villages average just $470 a year, as peasants struggle to coax cotton and corn to grow in the arid climate.

The space center entered history on Oct. 15, 2003, when China's first astronaut, Col. Yang Liwei, blasted off from here. He orbited the Earth 14 times in a modified Russian Soyuz capsule before landing safely to a hero's welcome.

China wants to land an unmanned craft on the moon by 2010 and ultimately build its own space station. It has scheduled its second manned mission for autumn 2005, aiming to put two astronauts into orbit this time.

Research is carried out in a cluster of modest white buildings decorated with framed pictures of rockets. Banners exhort workers to "love the motherland and give selflessly" — emphasizing the role of the space program in polishing national prestige.

Other slogans focus on scientific achievement, like one huge sign at the launch pad.

"Don't compromise on details," it says. "Don't miss by even a fraction of a second."

Jiuquan emerges as a heavily irrigated oasis of greenery amid the spartan Gobi Desert, with lush lawns and shady trees. The center's Dongfeng Aerospace City — home to 150,000 people, mostly scientists and their families — is a self-contained community complete with bank, post office, movie theater, swimming center and fast food.

"We don't have McDonald's but we do have KFC," said Yun Ning, a base spokesman. "I don't care for the food, but the children like it."

The glistening steel launch structure towers in the desert at 345 feet and was built and designed entirely by military firms. Rockets and spacecraft are assembled in a giant silo, then wheeled out on tracks for the mile to the launch pad. A vast concrete well catches burning fuel when rockets are launched.

Last year, China said its space program cost $2.18 billion, but officials say thriftiness is the watchword.

A second launch tower has just been built out of concrete instead of steel "because it's cheaper," said Sun Qingchuan, a base spokesman. "It will be used to launch scientific satellites."

Another motif is China's historic greatness. The apartment used by first astronaut Yang is named after a 1,000-year-old poem, "Ask the Sky," in which the speaker looks to the sky and wonders when the moon will be bright. "This poem ... shows China's ancient dream of exploring outer space," Yun said.

Thirty journalists from 24 news organizations and seven countries made the trip to Jiuquan, accompanied by Foreign Ministry officials every step of the way. The journey from Beijing was two hours by plane, then 10 hours by train across the Gobi Desert to the city of Jiuquan, plus a further four hours by bus to the space center.

The space center may be a world apart, but this corner of western China is anxious to be part of the economic boom that is transforming the nation's east-coast cities.

"We are interested in international cooperation, and this is reflected by our efforts to open up," said Hao, the assistant to the Gansu governor, who offers a bit of wishful thinking: "In all of Chinese history, Jiuquan is one of the most open places in China."

I wonder if they have apartments named after Bill Clinton, Sandy Berger and Bernie Schwarz too?

Where would their "space" program be without them? ;-)

A Chinese interpreter gathers journalists near the launch platform that launched China's first manned flight last year at the Jiuquan aerospace center near Jiuquan, northwestern China, Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2004. China's secretive space program opens its gates for the foreign media for the first time Wednesday but excluded most sites from photography. China is planning its second manned flight next year and is seeking cooperation from other countries as it further its space ambition. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

A paramilitary officer stands guard at the base of a platform that launched China's first manned flight last year at the Jiuquan aerospace center near Jiuquan, northwestern China, Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2004. China, a rising space power, provided a rare look into its top-secret launch center Wednesday, promoting the military-funded project as a lure for foreign investment and a key to the nation's growing prosperity. It was the first time China let foreign journalists enter, although officials forbade photographs of the command-and-control center. In the background on left is a second new launch platform. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

In cases of perhaps unprecedented strategic turn-coating (maybe not seen since the days of Benedict Arnold -excepting some recent examples: 50's spy cases, the Janssen problem, US soldier turned Al Qaeda and some others), the more left-leaning Democrats and unprincipled US "global" minded business types have helped the ChiCom space, satellite and other key industrial elements. There are stories about this all in the public domain, yet I bet the serious dents (probably the espionage cases) will be classified for a few hundred years or more or less permanently. These people really hurt us badly by helping China.

The people who will pay most for this are any US Military personnel killed should we ever get into any type of armed conflict with China. One of the absolute last things on our list of national interests is our assisting in with force modernization for the ChiCom military, whether it is a missile guidance system or satellite “overhead” technology. That objective is strangely high up on some peoples’ peculiar lists, however.

What can not be forgotten is that Chinese business and "commercial" enterprises are in many cases controlled by personnel from the People's Liberation Army and many business dealings, even on so-called "dual use" purchases, usually have a military application. They mask their intentions with an obsequious attitude, yet they are steady and focused in achieving their agenda. China has been engaged in a massive, unprecedented and unrelenting arms buildup, and has been seeking, and will continue to seek, "Western" technology in their force modernization effort. Some in the so-called "west" are only too glad to help their Chinese communist buddies.

If we get into a hot war with China in the future, take casualties, and we can also prove beyond the shadow of a reasonable doubt that certain technology came from certain firms and certain individuals in the US, then there should be some form of significant punishment(s) proscribed by law. I am not sure what is on the books about this scenario, yet if not, we need to hurry up and get some tough laws on the books. I have a hunch that we may need them in the future.

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