South Africa Wednesday congratulated China on the launch of its
first manned spacecraft, terming it as an encouragement to the
African nation and all other developing countries.
Andrew Aphana, spokesman for the Department of Arts, Culture,
Science and Technology, told Xinhua that South Africans are proud
to associate themselves with the success of the People's Republic
of China's first manned space launch and hope to participate in
future commercial advantages this may hold.
Martyn Davies, director of Emerging Market Focus and an expert
in Chinese-African relations, said, "Space is no longer the
monopoly of the developed world. It is good to see that a country
representing the developing world can achieve such a success."
Few South Africans were aware of the fact that a Chinese space
tracking ship was docked alongside Cape Town's Table Bay harbor. It
has until now been a tightly held secret. However, it is
interpreted as a sign of cooperation with the Chinese space program
and there is hope that it could help open the doors for future
commercial cooperation.
"The launch has made China only the third nation to achieve a
manned space flight after the United States and the former Soviet
Union -- a prize for which the Chinese government invested 11 years
of planning and many resources, Davies said.
It is a prize to be shared by all developing nations among which
China counts itself -- and more specifically for South Africa and
Africa as whole, he said.
South Africans are aware that there have been some discussions
between China and members of the University of Stellenbosch
satellite division of the faculty of sciences, he said, adding that
there will now be renewed hope of further cooperation, especially
in the field of commercial applications.
China has already achieved a lot with the use of its Long March
rocket launch vehicle to develop commercial satellite applications.
This could be adapted for use such as optimal exploitation of
agriculture in South Africa and Africa as a whole, he said.
"It opens the door to new avenues of cooperation between
developing countries in the realm of space," Davies added.
The University of Stellenbosch has developed a successful
microsatellite division and has done research for countries such as
Malaysia and Saudi Arabia. There have been talks with China and now
there is hope for closer ties in future, he said.
(Xinhua News Agency October 16, 2003)