China Not Planning to Send Women to Space

China’s space agency says it is not planning to send women into space in the near future, the government-run Xinhua news agency reported Wednesday.

However, Sun Laiyan, director of the China National Space Administration, reaffirmed his nation’s intent to consider a plan to select woman candidates and train them for space missions.

China has followed a policy of gender equality since New China was founded in 1949, said Sun.

Chinese astronaut Yang Liwei returned safely to Earth Oct. 16, 2003, aboard the Shenzhou-5 after orbiting Earth 14 times on a 21-hour mission, making China the third country after Russia and the United States to send people into space.