Now China joins space club

The Asahi Shimbun, Asia News Network, Tokyo

China has successfully put its manned Shenzhou 5 spacecraft into orbit. The launching, televised domestically and abroad, was watched by President Hu Jintao and other Chinese leaders, and the Chinese are proud of joining their space-faring predecessors, the United States and the former Soviet Union.

The Chinese success comes almost unaided, following 11 years of efforts to develop its own manned space program. China has worked to develop its own technologies for spacecraft control and recovery. The launching has demonstrated China's space technology is highly refined.

The Soviet Union was first to put a manned spacecraft in orbit in 1961, in the heat of the Cold War with the United States. The U.S. response was an urgent, national priority to put a man on the moon. Nations thus put their prestige on the line by the ability to send people into space. In China's case, much is being made of the successful launching of Shenzhou 5 as a symbol of a "great revival" for the Chinese people.

Having overcome foreign aggression, war with Japan, and hardship of its own revolution, China is now striving to become one of the powerhouses in the 21st century on the strength of its rapid economic expansion. The people of China are understandably proud.

But there is a somewhat disconcerting element here in wondering what China will do after gaining the self-confidence that goes with being a major player in the space race. China advocates peaceful use of space and opposes an arms race in space. China is reported to be keen on joining the market for commercial launching of satellites and intends to send up its own lunar exploration mission.

Still, space development cannot be separated from the military aspects. In the spring of 2002, Jiang Zemin, then China's president, said a manned space program was an important element in the advance of science and technology and modernization of national defense resources. Details of the Shenzhou 5 mission were withheld until the last moment. If China's space program results in an arms race with the United States or presents a threat to China's neighbors, neither the people of Japan nor the international community at large could condone it.

China's success with Shenzhou 5 drew varied responses from people involved in space development in Japan. While Japan has surpassed China in the ability to put up satellites, there are no plans for a manned Japanese space mission. Those who believe space development only advances with manned missions talk about how mortified they are at being overtaken by China.

This leads us to confirm the fact that manned space missions, which are impossible without huge investment and which do not consider a payback, are inappropriate to Japan's circumstances. Conversely, Japan is more advanced than China in developing and using satellites for practical and research purposes. The same is true of the nations of Europe. There is not much to be gained by sole-country manned space endeavors.

With the end of the Cold War, the United States and Russia have long cooperated in space development and have worked jointly with Japan and nations of Europe to build and operate the International Space Station. Space development, including the space station project and a manned flight to Mars, is already at a point of being impossible without international cooperation. China's involvement and cooperation will benefit such joint efforts. China has, in fact, already decided to join the European Union's Galileo satellite-navigation program.

Japan is dazzled by China's success. Some Japanese may have mixed emotions about the great advances of a developing country that benefits from Japanese economic assistance. Japan's role, however, is to do all it can to involve China in international space cooperation.