At 10.04 last night, quite many citizens enjoying Mid-Autumn family reunion diners at home or restaurants gazed on TV live broadcast footage: at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in remote Northwest China, a Long March 2 FT2 rocket carrying Tiangong-2 space laboratory ejected flame to lift off, opening a new chapter and marking a news victory in China's space aviation history.
Following the successful launch of Tiangong 2, two Chinese astronauts will make a space travel on Shenzhou 11 spacecraft in the latter half of October and stay in space for 30 days. This will be the longest time for a Chinese to stay in space.
Not just that. Another and more important task of Tiangong 2 is to start building China's first large space station. Assembly of the space station will be completed in 2020, which then will begin operation in 2022. By then up to six astronauts will conduct various researches and experiments in the space station, building up a "man's world" in space to facing its own home on earth from afar.
What the successful launch of Tiangong 2 has brought to all Chinese people including Hongkongers is another profound perception and understanding of our national circumstances and strength. Even those with little knowledge about science and technology can understand how difficult such a launch is nearly without any chance for error.This could not have been done without keeping technology, management and mentality at a stable level as well as being united as one.
This marks our country has made another achievement that attracts worldwide attention. However, a small minority of people in Hong Kong society after the Legislative Council (Legco) election still keep talking our ears off with what so-called "localism" and "self-determination" issues. They even look on the successful launch of Tiangong 2 with cold indifference as by-standers. These individuals' ignorance is disgusting. As a matter of fact, since 1960s till Hong Kong's handover, our nation's achievements in major scientific and technological researches had remained an important spiritual support for Hong Kong people to raise their heads under British colonial rule, and a closest sentimental link between Hong Kong people and the Motherland. At that time, even some pro-Taiwan personages active in Hong Kong would have raised their glasses to cheer and celebrate the Mainland's successes in test explosions of its first atomic bomb and hydrogen bomb and in launch of its first satellite, until they got drunk as a lord.
More importantly, it was such a "Chinese heart" and sense of national pride held by Hong Kong people that had played the most essential role in the historical turning point of Hong Kong's return to the Motherland. The stable transition leading to the smooth handover in 1997 was due to, besides the central authority and Deng Xiaoping's superhuman political mind and wisdom, Hong Kong people's patriotic sentiments accumulated in many years, which had made the British to retreat being "aware of the overwhelming odds against them" and provided the most important foundation for the successful implementation of "one country two systems" and the Basic Law. In the due process, patriotic institutions, organisations and personages in Hong Kong had also often held various activities to introduce to citizens the nation's achievements in scientific and technological researches, which were of great help to promote patriot awareness and solidarity.
Now, 19 years have passed already since the handover. It is time for the SAR Government and Hong Kong society to serious review the effectiveness of works on patriotic publicity and education. A couple of years ago, "anti-national education" unexpectedly turned into a "student movement" of surrounding the government headquarter. In the 79-day illegal "Occupy Central" afterwards, quite a few young and teenage students also participated. Right now, activities to advocate "localism" on campus also become a headache for many school authorities
These "anti-national education" students and "localist" young people know nothing about history such as the eight-year war against Japanese invasion with a "Great Wall built with blood and flesh", and are ignorant of current affairs such as space travels of the manned Shenzhou spacecrafts and the launch of Tiangong. Or at best they have a smattering of knowledge but no one has elaborated to them with more details. "Chinese history" is not made a study subject in school while "general studies" becomes directionless. How can one expect to see Hong Kong people once again show such sentiments of crying tears of joy as they once did upon seeing the country's successes in the test explosions of its first nuclear bomb and hydrogen bomb and in launching the first satellite?
16 September 2016
