My comment: This is so ridiculous.
(a) As far as I can tell, NASA (its website is NASA.gov) has not released any statement about this event in China. In fact, it seldom talks about other nations' space programs -- unless NASA is a participant (such as International Space Station).
(b) Indeed I find the English original, on which the 德国之声 quotation is based.
"The success of the Tiangong-1 space module – along with its three Shenzhou missions – paved the way for this near-term goal, which also allowed for the Chinese to mature and test their rendezvous and docking procedures.
"The fact they were making debut attempts at this vital component of orbital outpost construction, decades after the United States and Russia had mastered it, pointed the amount of catching up the Chinese have to achieve.