If China does get to the moon before NASA returns, they may be able to proceed from the Apollo stage to the CEV stage without the same multi-decade gap that the American space program experienced. The CPC isn't subject to the whims of public opinion, and still has large state industries it can throw at the problem.

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"I worry that, especially as the Millennium edges nearer, pseudo-science and superstition will seem year by year more tempting, the siren song of unreason more sonorous and attractive." - Carl Sagan, 1995