China's upcoming Shenzhou 4 test flight will enable China to become the third nation to have an independent human space launch capability. Phillip Saunders, Director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies, argues that "China's manned space program is like China's desire to host the Olympics - it's all about prestige." Saunders said that, from the Center's perspective, one key area of interest is the impact of the manned space program on China's strategic modernization efforts and on potential military uses of space. Although the manned program attracts more resources to China's overall space effort, Saunders said, it also diverts resources and scarce engineering talent away from areas with direct military applications. (Optimistic guy!)