Posted on 07/19/2008 9:28:31 AM PDT by KingJaja
BEIJING, May 14 -- China announced Monday that it had launched a Chinese-manufactured communications satellite into orbit on behalf of Nigeria, marking the first time China has built a commercial satellite and put it into orbit on contract for another country.
The launch, in Monday's pre-dawn hours from the Xichang space center in southwestern Sichuan province, was viewed as another sign of China's increasing prowess in space and its determination to be among the world's great powers seeking to utilize the reaches of outer space for benefits on Earth.
The country's space agency, which is managed by the military, sent two astronauts into orbit in October 2005 in its second manned spaceflight. The government last week adopted a 10-year plan for expanded space exploration, including more manned flights as well as unmanned probes of the moon and beyond.
Because of its military management and Beijing's recent emphasis on space-based information warfare, China's space program and its rapid progress have caused worries in the United States. The concern intensified following the successful Jan. 11 test-firing of an anti-satellite missile, which some analysts said demonstrated a risk to the many satellites on which U.S. military forces rely for navigation and weapons guidance.
But Monday's launch of the NIGCOMSAT-1, aboard a Long March 3B rocket, represented more of a commercial challenge, Chinese officials said. The official New China News Agency said China secured the $311 million contract in 2004 in a bidding process in which 21 other companies took part.
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In addition, the new launch was seen as a symbol of China's broad network of economic relations with Africa. As its economy forges ahead, with growth of nearly 10 percent a year, China has been particularly eager to establish commercial relations with oil-producing nations such as Nigeria.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
The Chinese will soon be badgered with email scams.
Bill Clinton also enabled the Chinese space effort by allowing his campaign supporters to sell restricted technology to them. More of the benefits of U.S. capitalism transferred to Nigeria via the calculating Chinese totalitarians , to take up the theme of the other thread, and no jest intended here.
it an oil alliance. Nigeria has plenty of it.
the one time I'm supposed to use an apostrophe, I leave it off.
it's...
No You sayee rite round eyes! Rots of Ruck!
Okay.
We agree that the Chinese are totalitarian thugs who steal American jobs and technology with every breath they take. We also agree that Nigerians are email scamming, machete-wielding thugs and oil thieves.
We agree the us both - Nigerians and Chinese are SOBS.
The question for Americans is this - Do you or do you not want to do business with Africa? The answer to that question is increasingly that you don’t.
Please do not bash the Chinese for doing business in Africa. The Chinese are SOBs and we are SOBs and I guess you are too pious to do business with us.
So keep quiet or do business - the more aid you send the more money you send down the drain.
No, not "okay." Who the hell is the "us" you're referring to? And why wouldn't we want to do business with the Chinese or the Nigerians? You must do business with people who have what you need. "Doing business" does not mean selling state secrets.
And, no, I don't agree that we're all SOB's. Some of "us," maybe. Not all of us.
"I can do any Goddamned thing I want. I'm President of the United States. I take care of my friends and I fuck with my enemies. That's the way it is. Anybody who doesn't like it can take a hike." -Bill Clinton, in a White House staff meeting, as reported by Capitol Hill Blue's Doug Thompson in his column on 1999-Apr-8, regarding sicking the IRS on Ken Starr
no offense to the Nigerian people, I know many of them, but isn’t it true they have the most corrupt government in the world? Is any of this development going to filter down to them or do they have to continue to come to these welcoming shores for opportunity?
The average freeper has nothing positive to write about Nigeria/Nigerians. This is understandable.
We are SOBs.
We accept.
The Satellite will facilitate communications in Nigeria. It has already filtered down.
Banks and Oil Companies depend heavily on VSAT technology. The Satellite helps that.
> NIGCOMSAT-1
Had to check the calendar and ensure this wasn’t 01 April.
Anyway, the Chinese may expect to receive from Nigeria
a Cashier’s Check made out for more than is owed, with
instructions to wire the excess back via Western Union.
difficult to believe that buying into a private comminication company’s network couldn’t do the same, but I can see your point.
there ya go. BTW, it's not really an international news forum
Yeah? Well I dare you to find my posts on “Nigerians.”
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