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美國《大西洋月刊》網站日前刊文稱，從各個方面來說，這都是中國歷史性的一周，它見證中國創造了數項「第一」。
文章指出，北京不僅成功完成了首個載人交會對接任務，並將中國女性航天員劉洋送入太空。對雄心勃勃、希望發展高科技事業的中國共產黨來說，這是一個無可爭議的偉大勝利。國家主席胡錦濤果斷地推動中國進入莊嚴深邃的太空，從而精心策劃了一個「肯尼迪時刻」。
儘管中國是太空競賽的後來者，它遲到了大約40年，但當初「阿波羅」計劃帶給美國民眾的狂喜和驚詫依然可以在今天的中國民眾中感受到。同所有大型首創項目一樣，它的成功將增進國家的團結並激發愛國主義。
中國不慌不忙，4年完成4項太空任務。它的步伐莊重穩健。美國海軍軍事學院的安德魯·埃里克森說：「中國謹慎與可持續的方式同蘇聯創造其種種『第一』的方式不可同日而語。蘇聯省略了一些安全步驟，根據政治需要來實現太空壯舉。北京則根據自己的主張制定時間表，它正在努力打造未來。」
另據日本《朝日新聞》報道，在歐債危機愈演愈烈的同時，中國等新興國家的影響力卻在不斷增強。在墨西哥和巴西舉行的兩次國際會議上，新興國家作為出資方受到了國際社會的普遍期待。中國總理溫家寶承諾將向欠發達國家提供兩億元人民幣用於應對氣候變化。在越來越多的場合，中國開始取代經濟困難的發達國家提供對外援助。
來源：參考消息網 2012-06-24
Hu Jintao's Kennedy Moment
By Damien Ma Jun 21 2012, 1:12 PM ET
China flawlessly executed a manned space flight. Now, imagine if the country put that same effort into improving the food supply.
Reuters
In any given week, China is capable of dazzling the world with its achievements while simultaneously undermining such progress by disappointing its own people. This was that kind of a week.
By all accounts, it has been an historic week for China, laden with several firsts. Not only did Beijing successfully complete its first manned space docking mission, the mission carried along the first Chinese female astronaut Liu Yang, a veteran air force pilot. For a Communist Party that has always held grandiose technological ambitions, this was an indisputable triumph. And it did so by reflecting the Maoist ideal of gender equality captured in the commonly recited phrase "women hold up half the sky." For President Hu Jintao, whose decadal reign saw a less harmonious society, he can at least claim credit for having engineered a "Kennedy moment" by decisively taking China into the majestic heavenly ether. It is true, however, that the moon-shot plan was hatched under the previous administration, but the space program's repeated successes registered under Hu's watch will surely define a central part of his political legacy.
Although China is a latecomer to the space game by about 40 years, the sense of rapturous wonder that once captivated Apollo mission audiences in the U.S. is palpable among the Chinese public today. The official press, predictably, issued paean after paean about the momentous launch. And like all initiatives grand in scale, its success serves as an occasion to rally around the flag and inspire patriotism. (Not to mention the effusive praise of the Communist Party's achievement conveniently takes the political transition and Bo Xilai off the front pages, for a while at least.) There is reason for China to be proud of the accomplishment precisely because the program, unlike the high-speed rail, was approached methodically and has a proven track record of success. Evan Osnos of the New Yorker puts it thusly
Over the last decade, China has moved with purpose, putting its first person into space, completing an inaugural spacewalk, and launching two lunar orbiters. But it is not doing anything rash; the pace, four missions in four years, is a stately one. "China's careful, sustainable approach cannot be compared to some early Soviet 'firsts,' which took safety shortcuts in order to achieve politically-timed space spectaculars,"accordingto Andrew Erickson, of the U.S. Naval War College. "By working on its own terms, on its own time, Beijing is building for the future."
As the Chinese public and outside world marveled at the Shenzhou-9 liftoff -- inevitably inviting comparisons to the declining U.S. space program -- pride evaporated and gave way to the old cynicism as revelations within China came to light. It turns out that the astronauts have been feted with organic food from an exclusive farm that boasts free-range chickens and "sleek and glossy haired" cows that are hormone free, according to the Chinese newspaper Beijing News.
Bejing News
The exclusivity of said farm (pictured above) is not surprising. In fact, they are quite common. That is, if you are fortunate enough to be counted among the elites and officialdom who have access to such gourmet feasts. As Barbara Demick of the LA Times reported on this phenomenon last year:
At a glance, it is clear this is no run-of-the-mill farm: A 6-foot spiked fence hems the meticulously planted vegetables and security guards control a cantilevered gate that glides open only to select cars.
"It is for officials only. They produce organic vegetables, peppers, onions, beans, cauliflowers, but they don't sell to the public," said Li Xiuqin, 68, a lifelong Shunyi village resident who lives directly across the street from the farm but has never been inside. "Ordinary people can't go in there."
So much for a classless, egalitarian society -- only astronauts and cadres can avail themselves of secretive supplies of natural, wholesome food. But what's supplied to ordinary Chinese? Tainted milk and irradiated pork. It is precisely this sort of privilege, entitlement, and social stratification that rile the Chinese public. And with the middle class' growing anxiety over rampant food safety violations, the "organic astronaut farm" story took on added salience, especially when juxtaposed against the splashy and expensive space program. Why not spend the money on fixing the food supply? From infant milk powder to the aptly named "gutter oil," the credibility of authentic and unadulterated food is in shambles. There is reason to believe that the reality may be much worse than what has already been exposed, so claims Caixin magazine. There is simply too much opacity to grasp the true extent of the problem. Meanwhile, mainland mothers can trek to Hong Kong to buy legitimate infant formula, which many Hong Kong vendors seem to deliberately display in front of the store to attract mainland buyers.
For a country rightfully proud of its preeminent food culture -- a major source of its soft power -- these gastronomic malfeasance are socially and politically damaging. Of course food scandals and contamination aren't unique to China, but the potential scale and rampant violations put China in a different category. It is ironic that for a government perennially preoccupied with the ability to feed 1.3 billion mouths, it has made eating a riskier proposition. Eating holds a unique position in the Chinese psyche -- not least because many Chinese still recall a period of mass starvation. And so as a matter of public policy, the government's credibility on food is no trivial matter. At this point, it is not earning much credibility on this issue.
The Communist Party may have decisively taken China into the 21st century space age this week, but on the home front, its crumbling food system seems to resemble the age that Upton Sinclair documented at the beginning of the last century. How can a country that is poised to build a space station still tolerate a broken food system? That is a question many Chinese are asking these days
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