Ex-KMT chief praises launch facility

Former chairman of the Chinese Kuomintang party Ma Ying-jeou on Tuesday praised the Chinese mainland's advancements in space exploration during a visit to a key satellite launch center, calling the progress "magnificent" and "remarkable".

Ma led a delegation of students from Taiwan to tour the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, located in the mainland's northwestern Gobi Desert. The facility is one of the mainland's primary bases for launching satellites and crewed spacecraft.

"This is magnificent," Ma said as he stood in front of a 75-meter-tall launch tower used for the Shenzhou missions, the human spaceflight program that began in 1999. "The Chinese nation is truly remarkable."