CHINA: An approving Henry Kissinger always appears at moments deemed historic by China's leadership. If he's around, then the event is officially extraordinary.
So just as when Beijing was awarded the 2008 Olympics and again when China joined the World Trade Organisation, Chinese state TV turned yesterday to the former US Secretary of State. He may be reviled elsewhere, but Kissinger remains a revered figure in China since his efforts to restore China-US relations in the 1970s.
"If I'd been told 30 years ago that China would send a man to space in 2003 I wouldn't have believed it," he said yesterday on Chinese TV. "I congratulate China on a great day in its history."
Blanket TV coverage and official self-congratulation marked the venture which concluded yesterday with the safe return to earth of the astronaut, Lieut Col Yang Liwei. Ordinary Chinese are variously amazed and nonplussed at the space effort which has been in gestation for over 40 years and which has so far cost taxpayers $2.18 billion.
China craves international approval and since the launch on Tuesday, news anchors have stretched far around the world seeking expressions of approval, admiration and, perhaps, jealousy.
Beijing school children have no doubt as to the significance of the event. "It means we're better than Japan," said one cheery 15-year-old to whom I chatted. "China will be very powerful now because we are the first Asians in space. And we have a huge population, so that makes us powerful too." Her bookish friend said with a smile: "It shows that China is developing very fast."
Back at home, Yang Liwei's five-year-old son, his eyes blinking from the constant glare of flash bulbs, had his own down to earth questions.
"Did you eat?" he asked his father. "What's space food like?"Yang was flown to Beijing less than two hours after landing, pale-faced and tired-looking.