I chatted with my Chinese wife about this. Interestingly, her observations were rather different from my expectations. Whilst we space enthusiasts see things a in terms as a "race" for prestige, the general public in China is experiencing a wave of disbelief. Just as we have in the west our own Conspiracy-Theory-They-never-Went-To-The-Moon meme, in China, they believe that the Shenzou spacecraft are managed from a "Capricorn-1" building in downtown Beijing where Astronauts pretend to fly and the whole Chines space program is a "paper tiger".

This thinking is reinforced by the recent blatantly false press coverage of the "real-time launch", which was 2 hours ahead of "reality".

Chinese people know when they are being cheated, and if someone cheats you once, they will cheat you again and again - this applies to their government too, which seems to be self-selecting for deceit, corruption, and cheating of the population.

Remember when this was the "People's revolution"? it's been a long time since "the People" got any say in what happens. Now you have to be the son of a long-time party member to get a good position - hereditary wealth and all that. Can you spell oligarchy?

What does this mean for the Chinese space program? it means that it is driven by the whim of those in power. It will do what THEY want. maybe they will push for a Moon Landing to gain "face", but be aware, the Chinese are so afraid of "losing face" that they are even MORE risk averse than NASA at times!