If COMAC’s C919 jumbo jet takes off, so does China. But is the Chinese government’s heavy hand weighing it down?
On a spring day four years ago, China’s ultimate industrial dream came true. The C919, a single-aisle, two-engine jetliner, touched down in Shanghai to a throng of cheering spectators. No less than two members of the Communist Party’s mighty Politburo attended the celebratory festivities. The C919 had just completed its 79-minute maiden voyage, and its safe descent marked a “centurial breakthrough,” according to its manufacturer, the state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (
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Bob Fu's relationship with China has gone through phases. First, he thought money would solve his problems there; then he joined protesters at Tiananmen Square, thinking the politics could change. In the end, he determined, only God could save China, and he's been fighting for religious freedom in China ever since he resettled in Texas. With his nonprofit, ChinaAid, prospering like never before, he says the U.S. is finally catching on.
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