China's fourth batch of astronauts is currently undergoing training as planned and could join the candidate crew in the future, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said on Wednesday.
"Since they joined the team in August 2024, the fourth batch of astronauts has undertaken the studies of basic space theory, multiple trainings on psychology and adaptability to space environment and some specialized trainings following the plan," CMSA spokesman Lin Xiqiang said at a press conference at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, ahead of the launch of the Shenzhou-20 spacecraft scheduled for Thursday.
"We are carrying out the training on the fourth batch of astronauts in an orderly and organized way as planned. After qualifying for spaceflight, they will be included in the candidate crew. We believe that they will be seen in future flight crews successively soon," Lin said.
"After they joined the team, astronauts from Hong Kong and Macao quickly adapted themselves to the working and living environment and swiftly got integrated into the astronaut crew. They have worked very hard in trainings with all the work progressing smoothly. They are currently engaged in studies and trainings on professional space technologies. As payload experts, the Hong Kong and Macao astronauts are expected to carry out their first flight mission in 2026 at the earliest," he said.
China's Shenzhou-20 crewed spaceship is scheduled to be launched at 17:17 Thursday (Beijing Time) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the country's northwest, the CMSA announced on Wednesday.
Spokesman on training of China's fourth batch of astronauts
Spokesman on training of China's fourth batch of astronauts
International guests who have dedicated their lives to historical truth joined China's 12th national memorial event honoring the hundreds of thousands of victims killed by Japanese troops in the Nanjing Massacre during World War II.
The memorial was held on Saturday at the public square of the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province. China's national flag was flown at half-mast in the presence the crowd that included survivors of the massacre, local students, and international guests.
In one of the most barbaric episodes during WWII, the Nanjing Massacre took place when Japanese troops captured the then-Chinese capital Nanjing on Dec 13, 1937. Over the course of six weeks, they proceeded to kill approximately 300,000 Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers.
Joining the crowd was Christoph Reinhardt, the great-grandson of John Rabe (1882-1950) who was then a representative of German conglomerate Siemens in the war-ravaged Nanjing. During the Nanjing Massacre, Rabe set up an international safety zone with other foreigners, and they together saved the lives of around 250,000 Chinese people between 1937 and 1938 from the Japanese invaders.
Throughout the massacre, Rabe continued to keep a diary. To this day, all his pages remain one of the most comprehensive historical records of the atrocities committed by the Japanese aggressors.
Sayoko Yamauchi, who was also in the crowd of mourners, arrived in Nanjing on Friday from Japan's Osaka to attend Saturday's ceremony, just as she has done almost every year since China designated Dec 13 as the National Memorial Day for the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre in 2014.
Yamauchi's grandfather was one of the Japanese soldiers who invaded Nanjing in January 1938. However, since first setting foot in Nanjing in 1987, she has dedicated herself to uncovering and spreading the truth about Japan's history of aggression and enlightening the Japanese public about their country's wartime atrocities.
In 2014, ahead of China's first National Memorial Day for the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre, Yamauchi, along with 10 other individuals, received an award for her special contribution to the Memorial Hall of the Victims in the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders.
By attending the grand memorial event, Reinhardt and Yamauchi both said they hope to convey a message of remembering history and cherishing peace.
"This is my fifth visit to China, and Nanjing, and the third times I visited the ceremony. I have a wish that these survivors survive again and again and again. But my other wish is that the families of the survivors, that they transport the information, the right intention like their ancestors, because anyone must hold a hand (during) this remembering," Reinhardt told China Central Television (CCTV) in an interview before the event began on Saturday.
"Our delegation is on its 20th visit to China, coming to Nanjing to express our heartfelt condolences to those who perished 88 years ago, to remember this history, and to reflect on what we can do for a new future. That's why we are here," Yamauchi told CCTV on board the bus that took her to a local hotel in Nanjing on Friday evening.
Int'l guests call for remembering history at China's national event honoring Nanjing Massacre victims
