While China certainly has other things it should be working on (poverty, hunger, pollution, etc.), I think that the Chinese view this as a "coming-of-age". As C

While China certainly has other things it should be working on (poverty, hunger, pollution, etc.), I think that the Chinese view this as a "coming-of-age". As China works to build its image as a superpower, it needs to be capable of other great feats beside economic prowess. Space exploration has always been one of the ways nations do this (read: space race). Sure, China is a bit late to the game... But better late than never.