Short of Saddamizing the Beijing regime, we should find patient, productive
engagement strategies that encourage trends we want to see. Openness rather
than secrecy, civil application rather than weapons, sensitivity to the
opinons of foreigners rather than arrogantly isolationist (e.g., Norkor),
those look like trends encouraged by this activity. But you're suggestions
are also critically important -- don't delude ourselves into thinking the
regime, or the nation that it has shaped for generations, is 'like us' in
any fundamental way except survival instinct. Remember our real differences.





"John Savard" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 15 Oct 2003 04:07:38 GMT, "James Oberg"
wrote, in part:

Fears about China in space should not sidetrack people. This isn't the
Cold
War of U.S.-Soviet confrontation, so a new high-budget "space race" isn't
in
the cards. China is not racing us to establish a manned military station
on
the moon. Nor is it assembling an orbiting battle fleet to neutralize
American space-based military tools. To imagine such threats is to fear
shadows. To respond as if they were real would be folly.

China is not a democracy.

It doesn't have a free press or free elections.

The Chinese people don't have the right of free assembly or the free
exercise of religion.

It is entirely appropriate to react with fear (or perhaps more
accurately trepidation, or a non-emotional recognition of the presence
of a potential threat) whenever any non-democratic country is found in
possession of any technology more advanced than bows and arrows. Of
course, we hardly needed China's launch of a manned space rocket to
cause us fear on that account, and you are indeed correct that in
_itself_ the peaceful exploration of space is not too frightening.

However, it wasn't too long ago that people were saying that Chinese
nuclear missiles "might" be able to reach the extreme East and West
coasts of the U.S.; obviously, if you can launch an orbital satellite
of any kind, you can reach any part of the earth with an ICBM... just
as Sputnik told us about the Russians.

John Savard
http://home.ecn.ab.ca/~jsavard/index.html