China's only manned carrier rocket in use currently, the Long March-2F, has an all-success track record of sending Shenzhou spaceships and other spacecraft into space over the past 25 years.
The Long March-2F carrier rocket conducted its first mission on November 20, 1999, successfully sending China's first experimental spaceship, the Shenzhou-1, into space.
This reliable rocket on Wednesday lifted the Shenzhou-19 crew to space, which is the latest progress of China's space program.
The combination of the Shenzhou-19 manned spaceship and a Long March-2F carrier rocket was transferred to the launching area at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China on October 22, to make the final preparation before launching.
The combination was lifted from the assembly and test facility and smoothly transported via a vertical transfer method.
In China, this way of transporting upright or vertically has started with the Long March 2F rocket.
"The 'three-vertical mode' refers to vertical assembly, vertical transport, and vertical launch. The Long March-2F rocket is China's first 'three-vertical mode' rocket. Subsequent rockets such as the Long March-5 and Long March-7, which are currently in service, as well as the future next-generation manned rocket, all use this 'three-vertical' mode," said Ren Xiaowei, an engineer of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.
Ever since the rollout process, the Long March-2F rocket responsible for the Shenzhou-19 mission has stood tall and straight, its uprightness gets further fine-tuned after propellant loading.
"You can see four green column-like support arms. Their height can be adjusted. Through these, the rocket's verticality can be precisely controlled. Generally, it is adjusted to within one minute (that is within the range of 1/60th of a degree)," said Ren.
About 6.5 hours after launching, the Shenzhou-19 spaceship successfully docked with the space station combination, and the crew, mission commander Cai Xuzhe and astronauts Song Lingdong and Wang Haoze entered the space station, where the three astronauts of the Shenzhou-18 mission were ready for their arrival.
China's Long March-2F carrier rocket has all-success mission record since first flight
A survey released by CGTN to global netizens shows that respondents strongly condemn the U.S.'s unilateral bullying of other countries under the pretext of "reciprocal tariffs," saying that this move may trigger countermeasures from other countries and eventually evolve into a "tariff world war," seriously impacting the world economy.
The U.S. claims that it has suffered losses in international trade and is raising tariffs on all trading partners under the pretext of "reciprocity," aiming to reduce the trade deficit. However, 81.03 percent of global respondents do not agree with this, believing that such measures will not achieve the expected results. During his first term in office, U.S. President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on major trading partners. According to statistics from the American Action Forum, a think tank, Trump's protectionist policies during the first term cost U.S. consumers about 57 billion U.S. dollars annually. According to the survey, 81.94 percent of respondents believe that "reciprocal tariffs" cannot solve U.S.'s own problems but will only harm the interests of U.S. consumers and drag down the U.S. economic growth.
The competitiveness of products from different countries varies. Each country can set appropriate tariffs based on its own products to achieve "mutual benefit" in the international market. The "tariff farce" of the U.S. side is a selective disregard for the balance of interests reached through multilateral trade negotiations. Some 82.8 percent of the respondents point out that in the context of unequal economic development and economic strength of different countries, the U.S. insistence on full and complete reciprocity in tariffs is extremely irrational.
The majority of the U.S. tariffs this time are targeted at developing countries. Regarding this, 82.96 percent of the respondents condemn the U.S. for conducting "indiscriminate attacks" on other countries on the issue of tariffs, believing that this is a deprivation of the development rights of other countries, especially developing countries. According to the survey, 84.43 percent of the respondents believe that the U.S.'s imposition of "reciprocal tariffs" will exacerbate the problem of trade unfairness with its trading partners and traditional allies, seriously damaging the country's credibility.
As a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the U.S. has unilaterally and subjectively introduced so-called "reciprocal tariffs" and insisted on implementing them. This is a typical act of unilateral bullying. In response, 79.47 percent of the respondents criticize the U.S. for seriously violating the rules of the WTO. In the survey, 79.58 percent of the respondents say that "reciprocal tariffs" have become a new tool for the U.S. to promote trade protectionism, which will further intensify international trade tensions and global economic fragmentation.
This survey was released on CGTN's English, Spanish, French, Arabic and Russian platforms. Within 24 hours, a total of 9,600 overseas netizens participated in the survey and expressed their views.
CGTN poll: US 'reciprocal tariffs' draw condemnation from world
