*ping*
There are many places where China claims to have been there "first." The problem is that is the excuse used to occupy those places...
Whoop de doo. Didn't Leif Erikkson discover America before even that? Like him, even if this story is true, it amounts to Jack and Spit. Nothing came of Erikkson's trip, and if this is true, then nothing came of the Chinese's trip. Something, however, DID come of Columbus' voyage. That's the only thing that matters.