Secrets for Chinese eyes only if space capsule falls to earth
Cameron Stewart
October 15, 2005
IF two dazed Chinese astronauts drop from space into the Australian outback this weekend, it will trigger an espionage plot worthy of an airport novel.
China's intelligence agencies have drawn up plans to thwart over-eager ASIO officers in the event that the Shenzhou VI space capsule crashes into the dust of the Australian desert.
Fearful that local rescue personnel and ASIO spies may arrive at the crash scene first, and take an unhealthy interest in the spacecraft's rocket technology, Beijing has moved to make its space capsule burglar-proof.
In a solution that any home insurance company would applaud, the Chinese have created a special key to unlock the spacecraft and have chosen not to give a copy to Australia.
Instead, the secret key is resting in the safe hands of an unnamed Chinese military attache at the Chinese embassy in Canberra.
In the event of a crash-landing, that Chinese official will be rushed into the desert, key in hand, to ensure that no one else unlocks China's secrets of rocket science.
Although China has denied it has spies in Australia, federal government sources have told The Weekend Australian that Beijing has more agents here than does any other country. Technology, including that relating to space, is high on the list of China's espionage priorities.
Australian authorities have given permission for China's astronauts - fighter pilot colonels Fei Junlong and Nei Haisheng - to crash-land their spacecraft in the outback in the event of an emergency during their 120-hour orbit. "We've been in touch with the Chinese military attache in Australia and we have briefed him on what we would do if we were needed," Emergency Management Australia spokesman Alastair Wilson told The Weekend Australian yesterday.
The astronauts blasted into space on Wednesday on China's second manned space mission and are expected to remain aloft all weekend, conducting experiments which include tests on pig sperm to produce tastier pork.
They will pass repeatedly over Australia during their mission and emergency landing sites have been identified in remote parts of Queensland, NSW, Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
Police and emergency services in those states have been placed on alert during the orbit, and perhaps with good reason.
The astronauts were yesterday forced to correct the spacecraft's path after it began to deviate from its original orbit, with gravity pulling it closer to Earth.
If the spacecraft does crash in the outback, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority will locate it using its emergency position-indicating radio beacon - a piece of equipment that can be bought in most electronics stores.
Australia is party to a 1968 UN agreement on the rescue of astronauts, which calls on states to render assistance to those who unexpectedly fall from the sky.
China's latest space mission comes two years after a successful inaugural manned mission and 48 years after then leader Mao Zedong lamented that his country was incapable of putting a potato into space.
[ Last edited by 真精不怕火恋 on 2005-10-16 at 19:55 ]作者: 五湖散人 时间: 2005-10-15 20:01
Originally posted by schulmacher at 2005-10-16 12:38 AM:
这篇文章是说，中国的神州六号可能会在澳洲降落，中国方面要保护技术不让澳洲人了解。
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Although China has denied it has spies in Australia, federal government sources have told The Weekend Australian that Beijing has more agents here than does any other country. Technology, including that relating to space, is high on the list of China's espionage priorities...........
