On Fri, 16 Jan 2004 11:28:42 +1100, in a place far, far away, David
Bromage made the phosphor on my
monitor glow in such a way as to indicate that:

Is it purely coincidental that the plan to go back to the moon,
establish a permanent lunar colony and put a man on Mars by 2015 is
almost exactly what China announced it planned to do back in October?

No, it's not coincidental, but neither is it an effect of China's
cause.