This media reaction is not a deliberate snubbing of China, but a reflection of news values and routines.
News is taken in and thrown out on a daily basis.
China offered no more material that was really newsworthy, and hence, coverage fell off. Even the aerospace media was less than overjoyed. Reports speculated at the supposedly high level of Russian technology in Shenzhou, and wondered if the lack of facts published about Shenzhou was concealing a lack of technological sophistication. We have since learned that Shenzhou is not really an exact clone of Russia s Soyuz spacecraft, but aerospace professionals continue to bemoan China s lack of substantial discussions on its hardware. This rather unenthusiastic response could temper enthusiasm for the program under any conditions, but the high costs of Shenzhou would make the program seem even more difficult to justify.