China is unusually secretive about its space programme
What is it doing up there?
Nine months after being secretly launched into orbit, an uncrewed Chinese spacecraft touched down at a spaceport in the Gobi desert on May 8th. Not much is known about the mission. A terse report from state media called it an “important breakthrough”.
This article appeared in the China section of the print edition under the headline “Don’t look up”
From the May 20th 2023 edition
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Wegovy hits the People’s Republic, at last
China mainlines “Musk’s miracle medicine”, at a fraction of the cost in America
China’s government is badgering women to have babies
It is testing an expanded pro-natalist playbook
China suffers eruptions from its simmering discontents
Amid random violence and increasing protests, fears mount for social stability
Trump, trade and feeding China’s pigs
As a trade war looms, China looks to cut its reliance on America
Helping America’s hawks get inside the head of Xi Jinping
China’s leader is a risk-taker. How far will he go in confronting America?
Snuffing out the flame of freedom in Hong Kong
Dozens of pro-democracy activists are thrown into jail for up to a decade