Monday, March 3, 2003

Debate points to looser Chinese press censorship John Gittings in Beijing Tuesday March 4, 2003 The Guardian A bold call for press freedom has been made on the eve of the official opening of the national people's congress - China's parliament - in Beijing tomorrow. Senior journalists and academics have called on the government to stop trying to suppress "negative news", and to allow the media to satisfy "the needs of society". Separately, a former official who opposed the 1989 Beijing massacre has issued his own manifesto saying that only more press freedom will stem the national tide of corruption. 11:32:35 PM      comment China plans three-phase Moon exploration 13:51 03 March 2003 NewScientist.com news service China has revealed further details of its plans to explore the Moon - the first unmanned probe could be launched by 2005, say officials. They also hinted that the motivation for the missions is to mine the Moon's resources. The lunar program, named Chang'e after a legend about a fairy that visits the moon, would be in three phases. First an orbiter would be sent to the Moon, followed by a lander, and then finally a sample return craft. "We will be able to embark on a maiden unmanned mission within two and a half years if the government endorses the scheme now,'' Ouyang Ziyuan, chief scientist of China's lunar exploration programme, told The People's Daily ...Oberg adds that China has set itself a number of ambitious goals. "As with their manned programme, they don't intend to recreate the US and Russian programmes," he says. "They intend to go to the head of the queue in terms of capabilities." 11:34:16 AM      comment

© Copyright 2004 John W. Williams II. Last update: 11/5/04; 1:14:34 PM.