China: Space Missions or Social Development? · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

On June 16, 2012, China successfully launched the Shenzhou-9 capsule, the country's fourth manned space mission. In order to celebrate this national feat, Chinese portal website Sina Weibo, has invited netizens to “write letters to the Shenzhou 9 capsule”. However, some have taken this opportunity to criticize excessive spending on a space mission, while the country is neglecting its basic social needs.
Artist Ah Ping's cartoon on the subject has been shared widely on Sina Weibo. As explained by the China Media Project, the cartoon shows:
Artist Ah Ping's cartoon
a bedraggled teacher in a clearly dilapidated rural school excitedly explains to his students that the successful launch of Shenzhou-9 is a victory for China, even as the students’ own condition tells the story of another China left behind. The teacher holds up a copy of People’s Daily and says: “With the successful launch of Shenzhou-9, our mother country’s space endeavors have taken a giant leap forward. I’d like all of you students to write a commentary about this!”
The sentiment of the cartoon is echoed by many netizens who have pointed out that the space mission is far easier than solving social problems in China [zh]:
@我朝有点威武￼：神九发射再次证明，解决贫困失学儿童问题，全民医保养老等有关民生的大事比登天还难
＠tweetypie: #给神九写封信#上天之后请问还逼人堕胎不？请问酸奶还用皮鞋做不？请问牛奶能放心喝了不？请问孩子们有校车坐了不？请问吃喝还公款不？请问城管还打人不？如果答案是“不”，那么，上个屁的天呀！为百姓做点实事真的有这么难么？？？
@坐在村口的小妖￼：#给神九写封信# 校车不安全，动车不安全，骑个自行车也不安全，赶紧量产了神舟吧，以后就都安全了
The news about the launch of the Shenzhou-9 capsule coincided with Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's delivery of her Nobel Peace Prize speech in Oslo, Norway. On Twitter, most information activists believed that national glory should be built upon people's rights rather than space missions. Dissident blogger Wen Yunchao points out [zh]:
@wenyunchao: 混微博的，为神九上天激动；混推特的，为昂山素季感动；这就是区别。
Tibetan dissent writer Degewa also raises her political concerns by retweeting a Tibetan microblog [zh]:
‏@degewa: 转藏人微博：神九上天告诉我们，藏人去拉萨的路比登天还难。