BEIJING (Reuters) - China hopes to develop the technology to send a man into space by the beginning of next year, the official Xinhua news agency reported today.
The agency quoted Zhang Lihui, director of the Research and Development Department of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp., as saying China will try to make "a breakthrough in this technological research by the end of this century or the beginning of the next century."
Zhang said research institutes, space centers, and universities were concentrating on the issue.
The Xinhua news agency gave no further details.
The report followed Beijing's announcement yesterday that China had mastered neutron bomb technology during the 1970s.
The announcement came in a cabinet report rebutting a U.S. congressional report that accused China of stealing American nuclear secrets.
The announcement was seen as a veiled threat to Taiwan, which caused a furor this week by junking the ``One China'' policy that has prevented war between the arch-rivals for decades.
Beijing has reinforced its long-standing threat to invade if Taiwan declared independence, cranking up their war of words.
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