Chinese astronauts to touch down in Hong Kong as city reaches for the stars

Chinese astronauts are expected to visit Hong Kong this month as part of a delegation of top mainland scientists and engineers, the Post has learned, with lawmakers lauding their four-day trip as a boost for patriotic education in the city.

But a source with knowledge of the matter said the three crew members on the Shenzhou-16 mission who returned to Earth last month after spending 154 days in space were unlikely to join the visit between November 28 and December 1.

Chinese astronauts last came to Hong Kong more than a decade ago. Three crew members who had been on the Shenzhou-9 spaceship mission in June 2012 visited the city for four days that August.

The source said elite police officers would be responsible for security arrangements to protect the astronauts, considered “space heroes” and “national treasures”. But he did not reveal whether the force’s VIP protection unit would be deployed.

Delegation members were expected to stay in a five-star hotel such as the Grand Hyatt in Wan Chai, which state leaders previously used during visits to Hong Kong, the insider added.

The astronauts were also scheduled to meet and share their experiences with local students during the four-day tour.

At least 2 Hongkongers in final stage of China’s astronaut selection drive

Another source said the group was set to visit Polytechnic University in Hung Hom, the Science Museum in Tsim Sha Tsui and a primary school.

But he said locations to be visited were subject to change and more events could be added to the delegation’s itinerary, which the Home Affairs Department was coordinating and had not yet been finalised.

Lawmakers said the visit would bolster students’ understanding of the country’s achievements in aerospace technology and would be in line with the tasks entrusted to a newly set-up policy unit on patriotic education.

01:56

China’s Shenzhou 16 space crew returns to Earth after 5 months in orbit

China’s Shenzhou 16 space crew returns to Earth after 5 months in orbit

New science subject to help Hong Kong pupils ‘appreciate national achievements’

The new law lays down content, goals, guiding principles and a leadership mechanism for patriotic education, as well as the duties of departments involved. State news agency Xinhua said the new law had 40 articles in five chapters and also spelled out the role of schools and families in implementing patriotic education.

Education sector lawmaker Chu Kwok-keung said the coming visit would help local students’ understanding of national developments and achievements in aerospace technology as he expected the astronauts, like their predecessors, to meet pupils.

“[By meeting the astronauts], students can know that taking part in the country’s aerospace mission isn’t unattainable,” Chu said, referring to Beijing’s decision to open up the astronaut selection process to the city last year.

Hong Kong scientists have lift-off for research project using moon rock and dust

Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry Sun Dong said in September that at least two local candidates had made it into the final round for the country’s fourth intake of astronauts.

Chu said he believed the visit would be in line with the patriotic education working group’s task, but added that he was not sure about the progress on the unit’s establishment.

Back in 2012, Shenzhou-9 crew members Jing Haipeng, Liu Wang and Liu Yang, the country’s first female astronaut, talked to secondary and primary school students and attended a tea gathering with women’s organisations.

China’s first astronaut Yang Liwei visited the city in 2003 on a six-day public tour.

The Shenzhou-16 spacecraft docked with the station’s Tianhe core module 400km (248 miles) above Earth, less than seven hours after it launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the Gobi Desert in northern China.

The Post has approached the Home Affairs Department, the Information, Technology and Innovation Bureau, and the Chief Executive’s Office for comment.