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Press
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UNESCAP News Services
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16 October 2003
Press Release No: G/15/2003
UNESCAP: CHINA'S SPACE MISSION TO BENEFIT REGION
Bangkok (UN Information Services) -- China's
successful manned space mission - only the third of its kind
in the world in forty years---drew praise from UNESCAP's Executive
Secretary Mr Kim Hak-Su, today."We congratulate the Government
of China on the successful and historic launch of the first
Chinese manned spacecraft Shenzhou V. I was deeply impressed
to see the outstanding progress and achievement made by the
Government of China's space programme and pleased to see that
China's first astronaut Yang Liwei has successfully accomplished
his noble mission," said Mr Kim in a congratulatory note
to Chinese President H.E. Hu Jintao.
As a key country in space technology and an important member
of UNESCAP, the Government of China has played a vital and
constructive role in the work of the United Nations Economic
and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) in
enhancing cooperation among the countries of the Asia-Pacific
region.
In particular, UNESCAP closely works with China
in the implementation of the Regional Space Applications Programme
for Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific (RESAP),
which was launched by the first Ministerial Conference on Space
Applications for Development in Asia and the Pacific, held in
Beijing in 1994.
UNESCAP has long recognized the importance of
space technology and its applications for sustainable development,
and its increasingly important role in bridging the digital
divide. "With the establishment of the Information, Communication
and Space Technology Division at UNESCAP, we look forward to
work more closely with the Government of China to bring the
benefits of space technology and its applications to improve
the quality of life of the people in the Asia-Pacific region,"
said Mr Kim.
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