Red China's First Man in Space is Back, and Safe

The Shenzhou ("Divine Ship") capsule worked as designed, and 38-year-old Peoples' Liberation Army Lieutenant Colonel Yang Liwei, looking perhaps a bit disoriented, stepped out, into a crowd of over 500 that had gathered to greet him in Inner Mongolia.

Everything -- the Long March ICBM launcher, the capsule, the flight plan, recovery -- and timing -- had gone perfectly, and China exploded into celebration.

The launch, which had a delayed broadcast (perhaps in case something went wrong), had one of the largest audiences in mainland China's brief ratings history. Yang Liwei, who had been virtually unknown as recently as this summer -- even in China -- is now being accorded Lindbergh-esque fame in his country, and is nearly a household word in a lot of households outside China, as well.

On word that the Taikonaut had landed safely and was recovered, celebrations rivaling a Cubs' World Series sweep [dream on, longsuffering Chicago!] broke out all over the nation. Nothing else was on the limited television, or radio coverage; nothing else was on the minds of the Chinese populace.

Those of us old enough to remember the grip that Alan Shepard held in the USA in 1961 can imagine what nearly two billion Chinese were feeling on Thursday.

The flight was just 14 orbits, 21 hours long -- but everyone, from the back-country peasant to Premier Wen Jiabao, was smiling and talking of no one else.

The fighter pilot (who joined the military at 18), now a national hero, is learning to drink in his new fame. Especially in China, where decades of selfless dedication to the party has had a stifling effect on even the concept of celebrity, Yang's position is unprecedented.

After a quick visit to the doctors', Liwei was flown to Beijing, where no doubt the feting will continue for some time. Soon, he expects to be reunited with his wife and 8-year-old son.

There is need for the free world to be cautious. A forty-year lead in space launches can evaporate in just a few years, thanks to recent technology and manufacturing transfers, and China's focus.

In fact, in government circles, the second-most-popular man in China today may well be the former US president who expedited those transfers. The future may now hold more uncertainty than at any time since the Soviets got the A-bomb, Cuba and Berlin notwithstanding.

"Do I see China as a potential rival? Yes, not only in space, but already commercially, economically. I think militarily it's also a possibility," U.S. astronaut Michael Foale, commander of Expedition 8 to the ISS, told the Reuters organization.

For now, though, the phrase heard all over China, from the taikonaut himself, the head of the mission, and up and down every street, has seemed to have jelled.

The approved and yet spontaneous phrase translates, "I feel good!"

Today, we all feel good. Congratulations, and welcome home, Yang!

FMI: www.fas.org/spp/guide/china/agency/