DATE=11/21/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CHINA-SPACE (L-O)
NUMBER=2-256402
BYLINE=STEPHANIE HO
DATELINE=BEIJING
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: China has announced the successful launch and
return of its first unmanned spacecraft. As V-O-A's
Stephanie Ho reports from Beijing, this puts China
into a very exclusive club of countries that have gone
into space.
TEXT: Chinese President Jiang Zemin named the shuttle
"Shenzhou" - which means "Divine Ship."
Official media say it blasted off Saturday, on a new
model of a Long March rocket, from the Jiuquan
satellite launch center in nothwestern Gansu province.
The craft touched down in the northern province of
Inner Mongolia early Sunday morning.
The state-run Xinhua news agency says the vehicle was
in space for 21 hours and orbited the earth 14 times.
The launch makes China the third nation to go into
space, after the former Soviet Union and the United
States.
Xinhua quotes an unnamed official, with China's Manned
Spaceflight Program, as saying China deserves to be
known in the world as a high-tech country. He said
China would conduct more unmanned test flights before
putting astronauts into space.
News of China's first step in an eventual manned space
program is aimed at boosting national pride and
championing the Chinese Communist Party, which just
celebrated the 50th anniversary of its rule.
In a series of reports on the flight, Xinhua
emphasized that it will strengthen the country,
promote science and technology, enhance national
prestige and boost China's sense of pride.
The state-run news agency, using the official
description of the government, added that the
Communist Party, with Jiang Zemin at the core, decided
in 1992 to carry out China's own manned spaceflight
project. (signed)
NEB/HO/PLM
21-Nov-1999 00:18 AM EDT (21-Nov-1999 0518 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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