DATE=10/16/03

TYPE=U-S OPINION ROUNDUP

NAME=CHINA IN SPACE

NUMBER=6-130132

BYLINE=ANDREW GUTHRIE

DATELINE=Washington

EDITOR=Assignments

TELEPHONE=619-3335

CONTENT=

UNEDITED

INTRO: China has become only the third nation to launch a man into space and Chinese the world over are celebrating the feat. V-O-A's ______________ has early reaction from the United States press in today's U-S Opinion Roundup.

TEXT: China is celebrating the successful 21-hour flight of "taikonaut" Yang Liwei, a lieutenant colonel in the Chinese air force. His Long March rocket blasted into space Wednesday from a remote Gobi desert location, carrying the Shenzhou-five [Divine Vessel] space capsule. Reports say it is a Chinese engineered, advanced version of the Russian Soyuz space vehicle.

After circling the earth 14 times, the capsule successfully returned to earth early Thursday [10-16] morning. The White House issued a statement praising the Chinese effort, and in the U-S press there is more acclamation, tempered with a bit of apprehension. Under a headline reading: "Welcome home, Yang Liwei," The Boston Globe says:

VOICE: China's historic launch of a manned spacecraft ... made it the third member of what might be considered an exclusive international explorers club - - as well as a universal symbol of the pioneering spirit that quickens pulses around the planet whenever human beings venture beyond their world.

... The lone pilot, Yang Liwei, evoked memories of Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin and American astronauts Alan Shepard and John Glenn, who tested the limits of engineering, and themselves, when they took their countries into the space age 40 years ago.

TEXT: In Ohio, Cincinnati's Post puts the first manned flight into historic perspective, reminding:

VOICE: The Chinese space program is not new. It began in the 1950s, founded by an American-trained rocket scientist, and continued intermittently with Russian help. The program was at the mercy of Communist China's ideological zigs and zags; [Editors: slang for "changes in policy"] a manned flight program was started and then abandoned in the mid-60s. ... The Chinese quite properly take pride in their exploit, although they didn't quite have the confidence to broadcast the launch live.

And their launch came when the two other space programs are in a sort of hiatus, the Americans' because their shuttle fleet has been grounded since the Columbia broke up last February, the Russians' because of money shortages.

TEXT: Portions of a Cincinnati Post editorial. In Florida, home of the main U-S spaceport, Fort Lauderdale's Sun-Sentinel speculates about the deeper significance of the flight.

VOICE: The negative (mostly military) implications can't be ignored, but shouldn't be over-emphasized. Yes, the Long March rocket used is the same kind now topped by China's nuclear warheads. Yes, China's space program is run by the military. And yes, China's ability to put a large vehicle in orbit can enhance its military capabilities in other ways, such as by launching spy satellites.

Still, China is not a clone of the former Soviet Union, and in fact has tried to play peacemaker with North Korea. The peaceful implications of the space mission are much more meaningful. ... Having another rocket-and-capsule system ... go into space can jump-start progress on the International Space Station, stalled by burn-up of the space shuttle Columbia. China can potentially share expenses as a full partner in operating that station, going back to the moon or on to Mars. China's technology might help show the U-S how to improve its own space missions.

TEXT: The views of Fort Lauderdale's Sun-Sentinel. For the view from Colorado, we check in with Denver's Rocky Mountain News, which notes:

VOICE: The mission was limited to 14 orbits, but the accomplishment changes the space equation. China, depending how it chooses, can be either a competitor or a partner in space exploration and its applications. ... Beijing has a lofty set of space goals - - a network of satellites, a space station of its own, a moon mission and even plans to mine helium on the moon. But achieving them is unlikely, given China's current space budget... about two-billion dollars a year compared to the 15-billion dollars the U-S spends on NASA.

TEXT: As for reaction from the nation's capital, The Washington Times quotes one expert as saying this should put America on notice.

VOICE: As the Space Foundation's president and chief executive officer, Elliot Pulham, pointed out, "It would be a grave mistake to underestimate the importance of this event... Unless America wishes to further cede its leadership in space, we need to take this launch as a very serious wake up call." "The United States must keep a wary eye on China's capabilities and intentions.

TEXT: Back to Boston for the last word on this flight from The Christian Science Monitor.

VOICE: The nation that invented the kite has achieved a technical feat worthy of its rapid economic progress by launching a man into orbit from a site near the Great Wall (another historic feat), becoming only the third nation to do so. ...Beijing wants to distinguish this ... achievement from the Soviet and American space successes of four decades ago in order to boost nationalist pride among a people who have little respect for the Communist Party.

TEXT: With that analysis from Boston's Christian Science Monitor, we conclude this U-S Opinion Roundup on the successful flight of China's first manned spacecraft.

NEB/ANG/FC