China’s first astronaut wants to establish Communist Party branch in
space
China might not have a permanent presence in space yet, but the
country’s rocket men are already thinking about setting up a Communist
Party branch in the outer reaches.
Now 14-strong, the Chinese astronaut corps more than meets the
party’s minimum requirement of at least three members for a branch, the
official Xinhua News Agency said Thursday.
China’s space communists would “carry out the regular activities of a
Communist Party of China branch in space in the way we do on Earth,”
Yang Liwei, the first Chinese astronaut to fly into space, was quoted by
Xinhua as saying on the sidelines of the national party congress.
Yang said a party branch would have to await establishment of a
permanent presence in space such as a space station, something China is
decades from achieving. A government official said Tuesday that China is
interested in participating in the international space station.
Yang orbited Earth for 21 1/2 hours in 2003 aboard the Shenzhou 5
spacecraft, making China only the third country after the former Soviet
Union and the United States to launch a person into space.
Beijing, Friday, AP
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