People's Liberation Army Astronaut Corps People's Liberation Army Astronaut Corps The People's Liberation Army Astronaut Corps () is a unit of the People's Liberation Army Strategic Support Force that is responsible for the selection and training of astronauts for the Chinese manned space program (Project 921). In August 1992, the Manned Space Program Command proposed to select astronaut candidates from the People's Liberation Army Air Force fighter pilots to the Central Military Committee and the proposal was approved in September. In October 1992, a Commission for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense-PLAAF jointed task force started the preliminary selection; 1,506 pilots were identified and
Chinese as a foreign language late 16th century. Among the first were the Italian Jesuits, Michele Ruggieri and Matteo Ricci. They mastered the language without the aid of any grammar books or dictionaries, and are often viewed as the first Western sinologists. Ruggeiri set up a school in Macau, which was the first for teaching foreigners Chinese and translated part of the "Great Learning" into Latin. This was the first translation of a Confucian classic into any European language. He also wrote a religious tract in Chinese, the first Chinese book written by a Westerner. Matteo Ricci brought Western sciences to China, and became a