China is definitely in a space race, even if the world has been distracted by China's Milk Scandal And in a strange coincidence, Sanlu is a sponsor of the Chinese Space Program. China just did a space walk and was the third nation, after the USSR and US to do this. It was meant to be follow up the the Beijing Olympics to show how far advanced China is. Future plans include a space station and a trip to the Moon. Perhaps China will focus on the commercialization of space, such as raw materials.

Other countries with interests in space are India and Japan. The US due to pork barrel politics and lack of leadership with the space shuttle as Exhibit 1, and the International Space Station as Exhibit 2, has no real official plan for space (Richard Feyman's comments on the space shuttle are still so relevant). Private space efforts focused on space tourism in my opinion are the only real hope for progress in the US.

References:

• China’s first spacewalk: no cold-war race this time - Christian Monitor
• Spokesman: China to build space station in 2020 - Xinhau
• Spokesman: China to build space station in 2020 - Houston Chronicle
• China space program advances with first spacewalk - Associated Press
• China’s latest spectacular: a walk in space - Economist
• Feynman's Personal Observations On The Reliability Of The Space Shuttle
  

Labels: china space