SINGAPORE, Oct 15: China won widespread acclaim after it put a man into space on Wednesday, while astronaut Buzz Aldrin, one of the first men on the moon, raised the prospect of a new space race.

Russia and the United States, the only nations to have put a man in space, hailed the launch of the Long March 2F rocket carrying “taikonaut” Yang Liwei.

NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe called the launch an important achievement.

“The Chinese people have a long and distinguished history of exploration,” he said in a statement. “NASA wishes China a continued safe human space flight programme.”

Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Khristenko told reporters: “We regard this as a great achievement as China has now become only the third nation to launch its own cosmonauts. This clearly demonstrates the level of its economic development.”

Mr Aldrin said the feat heralded a new age that could either result in greater competition or greater cooperation in space.

“I do believe that it opens up a decision to be made as to whether this will move toward a race in space, or a joining together of mutual beneficial assistance,” he told Reuters in Tokyo, where he was attending a conference.

Along with Neil Armstrong, Mr Aldrin took part in the first moon landing in 1969.

European Union space officials said the achievement signalled the possibility of an era of wider global cooperation, while Japan, which has its own space programme, offered congratulations.

Lord Sainsbury, Britain’s minister for science and innovation, who is visiting Beijing, said in a statement: “The United Kingdom’s Prime Minister, Tony Blair, would like to congratulate China for this successful launch.”—Reuters