If China makes that leap, the country's civil and military space efforts could close the gap between East and West in years instead of decades. Technology is critical to China's development of bigger, better missiles and space-based defenses as well as the country's commercial ambitions. Market reforms and cheap labor already are turning a once-stagnant, planned economy into a powerhouse.
Signs of the transformation can be seen everywhere in China's cities. Bumper-to-bumper car traffic has replaced bicycle gridlock. McDonald's and Kentucky Fried Chicken are almost as common as traditional roadside food stalls. Chairman Mao's wardrobe has been mothballed in favor of Western fashions. Handbills and posters are more likely to tout the qualities of European cigarettes than the virtues of class struggle.
One thing, however, hasn't changed: Most of China's space program remains closed to the outside world. Even so, a few Chinese officials are cautiously -- almost reluctantly -- beginning to open up.
A two-week tour of Chinese aerospace facilities this fall and talks with high-level managers, many of whom have been off-limits to Americans, revealed this about the country's mysterious manned program:
China likely will launch its first astronaut sometime in 2003 after six or so unpiloted test flights of its manned spacecraft. The next test flight -- the third overall -- is expected to blast off before the end of January.
Preliminary design of a Chinese space station already is under way. A modest outpost with limited capabilities could be developed during the next decade.
And there's even talk of sending people to the moon and building lunar bases in the next decade. [End Excerpt]
___________________________________________________________
(December 10, 2001) CHINA'S NEW FRONTIER China finds launches lucrative--[Excerpt] There also were accusations -- adamantly denied -- that Loral's chairman influenced a Clinton administration licensing decision with a hefty donation to the Democratic National Committee. License approval eventually was shifted from the Commerce Department to the more restrictive State Department.
The Clinton White House announced in November 2000 that it would resume processing export licenses and extend China's launch privileges through 2001 after Beijing agreed to a missile nonproliferation pact. But the Bush administration says outstanding issues remain in implementing the nonproliferation agreement. New satellite export licenses remain on hold. Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., and three other lawmakers urged President Bush in July not to resume licensing under any condition. [End Excerpt]
____________________________________________________________
U.S Air Force and NASA Work Closer on Strategic Space Control--[Excerpt]Space power -- Acknowledging that melding military organizations to create a more unified aerospace force is a tough assignment, DeKok said "this is not a hostile takeover. This is a merger of the willing".
"We are mindful of the fact that people are going to judge us not by what we say, but what we do in this process," DeKok said. This new organization will allow the U.S. Air Force to be a better steward of all of the services' requirements, along with the needs of the National Reconnaissance Office, in establishing a more coherent and better focused national security space program, he said. [End Excerpt]
....
China fully understood the windfall it was getting
I read Iris Chang's book about him where it was shown he was not deported or "thrown out" but was ransom for hostages held by the communists. This article has that info, quoted above.
And this guy was an utterly despicable human. He supported Mao and ChiCom fascism in word and deed and worse his crackpot ideas on farming were among the major factors that lead to the "Great Leap Forward" which causes the greatest famine in human history where 20 to 40 million people starved to death.
If he comes back for a visit, jail him.
From: "Andrew Higgins" Newsgroups: sci.space.history
Subject: Re: Titan Missile -- 1955 Status?
Date: Thu, 27 May 1999 02:35:16 GMT
In article <374C98D3.8DC60022@pacbell.net> , "Michael P. Walsh" wrote: >
George Herbert wrote:
As I recall, he was hounded out of the country in the McCarthy era for what appear now to have been completely trumped-up charges rather than real espionage activities, and he was forced to return against his will to mainland China, who promptly put him to use on their missiles program (for the obvious reasons).
> -george william herbert >
> gherbert@crl.com >
I believe some people have been rewriting history again. >
Rather than being hounded out of the U.S. he was prevented from leaving the U.S. to return to Communist China and my understanding he was leaving with a large amount of technical information (this was unclassified, but still important).
Since we never reached the totalitarian depths of our antagonists he was eventually allowed to return to China where he basically jump-started their missile program.
The story is much more complex than either of those accounts.
There were various factions within the U.S. (Depts. of Defense, State, etc.) in the early 1950's. Some wanted Tsien out: he had loose Communist Party affiliations in California from the 1930's, his homeland had just become a Communist state, and he was working on highly classified defense projects. Some wanted to keep him in: he already knew too much.
Tsien's stated desire was to return to China for a short visit, but he also gave indications of wanting to return for good. His true intentions were unclear. For 5 years, he was in limbo: security clearance revoked, under constant investigation, unable to work on defense contracts, but not free to return to China.
The deciding factor was the 1955 U.S.-P.R.C. talks on the return of U.S. service men being held by the Chinese since the Korean War. The Chinese negotiated the return of the U.S. service men, with the main condition being that the U.S. must give Tsien back to China. He went back to China shortly thereafter.
See "Thread of the Silkworm" by Iris Chang for details. --
Andrew J. Higgins Department of Mechanical Eng. Shock Wave Physics Group McGill University higgins@mecheng.mcgill.ca Montreal, Quebec