At a time when the rest of the world marvels at — or perhaps dreads — China’s rise, Beijing perceives a serious weakness in its own armor: the lack of soft power. For all its economic woes, the West still possesses ample soft power as evidenced by its cu

Image: A woman cycles past new buildings and others that are still under construction in central Beijing. Photographs: David Gray/Reuters. Image: Workers at LG Electronics India Pvt Ltd. assemble television sets inside a factory at Greater Noida. Photogr

China's Wang Yue was one of astronauts in the Mars-500 project to discover the effects of prolonged space flight on the body and mind. Wang Ru reports. Wang Yue, who is still recovering from 520 days of isolation while simulating a manned space flight to

China is pressing forward with plans to land a man on the moon. The United States, meanwhile, cannot even get an astronaut into space without hitching a ride. Last week, Beijing released a white paper titled “China’s Space Activities in 2011,” which outl

China has released plans for a five-year space programme, including building a space station and manned missions. Its ambitions reflect those of the US more than 40 decades ago, and have similar goals. Just as the US space programme came at a time of maj

Nearly 40 years after the cold grey soil of the moon was last disturbed by bounding humans, the lunar surface has become an official destination once more. Tentative plans to land a man on the moon have been outlined in a document published by the Chines