Astronomy:Chinese exclusion policy of NASA

The US government has prohibited all researchers from the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) from working bilaterally with Chinese citizens affiliated with the Chinese government. In April 2011, the 112th United States Congress banned NASA from using its funds to host Chinese visitors at NASA facilities. In October 2013, NASA reversed the ban of Chinese scientists from a conference—which was met with backlash from US scientists—and admitted their mistake in barring individual Chinese nationals who did not represent their government in official capacity.

History

In 2010, Rep. John Culberson (R-TX) urged President Barack Obama not to allow further contact between NASA and the China National Space Administration (CNSA). In a letter addressed to the President, he wrote:

I have grave concerns about the nature and goals of China’s space program and strongly oppose any cooperation between NASA and CNSA’s human space flight programs without Congressional authorization.

In April 2011, the 112th United States Congress banned NASA from engaging in bilateral agreements and coordination with China. As stated under Public Law 112-55, SEC. 539:

None of the funds made available by this Act may be used for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) or the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) to develop, design, plan, promulgate, implement, or execute a bilateral policy, program, order, or contract of any kind to participate, collaborate, or coordinate bilaterally in any way with China ... (c) ... shall not apply to activities which NASA or OSTP have certified pose no risk of resulting in the transfer of technology, data, or other information with national security or economic security implications to China or a Chinese-owned company.

– Public Law 112-55, SEC. 539

Coordination took place between NASA and China's 2019 Chang'e 4 mission, monitoring the moon lander and Yutu 2 rover on the lunar far-side using NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. NASA was able to collaborate with China by getting congressional approval for the specific interaction, and sharing data with researchers globally. NASA stated:

The statutory prohibition on NASA’s use of appropriated funds for bilateral cooperation with China…does not apply to activities that NASA has certified to Congress, [which] do not pose a risk of resulting in the transfer of technology, data or other information with national security or economic security implications to China; and that do not involve knowing interactions with officials who have been determined by the U.S. to have direct involvement with violations of human rights. In accordance with the law, NASA made the appropriate certification to Congress for this activity.

Response

Dean Cheng from the Heritage Foundation claimed more interaction with the Chinese is possible in the area of sharing already collected data. Cheng claims sharing data such as Geodesy information and lunar conditions may "help create a pattern of interaction that might lower some of the barriers to information exchange."

Increased cooperation between China and Europe

Since the mid-2000s, China, Russia and Europe have been working together towards manned deep space exploration as highlighted by Mars-500, a joint Chinese-European-Russian experiment that will provide ground-based studies to complement orbital research in preparation for a planned manned mission to Mars. In 2011, the German Aerospace Center collaborated with Chinese scientists in the Shenzhou program, marking the first time both countries worked together on one of China's Shenzhou missions. In 2016, European Space Agency announced their collaborative Dragon programme with China will extend to 2020.

Criticism

Geoffrey Marcy, an astronomy professor at the University of California, Berkeley, called the ban "completely shameful and unethical". Sir Martin Rees, the current Astronomer Royal of Great Britain, called the ban a "deplorable 'own goal' by the US".

In 2013, a number of American scientists decided to boycott a NASA meeting, with senior academics either withdrawing individually, or pulling out their entire research groups. This was in response to actions by officials at NASA Ames to prohibit Chinese nationals from attending the Kepler Science Conference II. Rep. Frank Wolf was quick to respond in a letter to NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden, saying that the restriction only applied to bilateral meetings and activities between NASA and the Chinese government or Chinese-owned companies. The NASA Ames officials had mischaracterized the law as Kepler Science Conference II is a multilateral event.

See also

• Politics of the International Space Station
• Space advocacy
• Space law
• Space policy