View source for Astronomy:China exclusion policy of NASA

{{Short description|United States federal law}}
Since 2011, the {{wipe|United States}} National Aeronautics and Space Administration ([[Organization:NASA|NASA]]) has excluded the Chinese government or any organisations affiliated with {{wipe|China}} in any capacity, even non-political, from its activities, including using funds to host Chinese visitors at NASA facilities.<ref name="DOD 2011">{{cite web|title=DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE AND FULL-YEAR CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2011|url=https://www.congress.gov/112/plaws/publ10/PLAW-112publ10.htm|accessdate=2 August 2020|publisher=United States Congress}}</ref>

==History==
In May 1999, the Report of the Select Committee on U.S. National Security and Military/Commercial Concerns with the People's Republic of China was made public. It alleged that the technical information that American companies provided China for its commercial satellite ended up improving Chinese intercontinental ballistic missile technology.

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

<blockquote>I have grave concerns about the nature and goals of China’s space program and strongly oppose any cooperation between [[Organization:NASA|NASA]] and [[Organization:China National Space Administration|CNSA]]’s human space flight programs without Congressional authorization.<ref>{{cite web |last=John Culberson |title=Bolden to Beijing? |url=http://culberson.house.gov/bolden-in-beijing/ |publisher=United States House of Representatives |accessdate=5 October 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130915190451/http://culberson.house.gov/bolden-in-beijing/ |archivedate=15 September 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=NASA chief to visit China|url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ibrYS4QQxp6thtEhJ3eNUxpbFY3Q?docId=CNG.565ee48525115af679ae1f1a39cb58f1.12b1|publisher=AFP|accessdate=5 October 2013}}</ref></blockquote>

In April 2011, the 112th United States Congress banned NASA from engaging in bilateral agreements and coordination with China.<ref name="DOD 2011" /> As stated under Public Law 112–10, Sec. 1340:

{{Quotation|(a) None of the funds made available by this division may be used for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration or the Office of Science and Technology Policy 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 or any Chinese-owned company unless such activities are specifically authorized by a law enacted after the date of enactment of this division. (b) The limitation in subsection (a) shall also apply to any funds used to effectuate the hosting of official Chinese visitors at facilities belonging to or utilized by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.<ref name="DOD 2011" />|author=|title=|source=}}

In 2013, officials at NASA Ames prohibited Chinese nationals from attending Kepler Science Conference II. A number of American scientists boycotted the meeting, with senior academics either withdrawing individually or pulling out their entire research groups.<ref name="guardiannasa" /> Rep. Frank Wolf wrote 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, whereas Kepler Science Conference II is a multilateral event.<ref>{{cite web|title=Wolf Disputes Effect of Law on Chinese Participation in Kepler Conference - UPDATE|url=http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/news/wolf-disputes-effect-of-law-on-chinese-participation-in-kepler-conference|accessdate=22 November 2013|publisher=spacepolicyonline.com}}</ref> NASA later reversed the ban and admitted a mistake in barring individual Chinese nationals who did not represent their government in official capacity.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Sample|first=Ian|date=11 October 2013|title=Nasa admits mistake over Chinese scientists' conference ban|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/oct/11/nasa-chinese-scientists-conference-ban}}</ref>

During China's 2019 [[Astronomy:Chang'e 4|Chang'e 4]] mission, NASA collaborated with China to monitor the moon lander and Yutu 2 rover on the lunar far-side using NASA's [[Astronomy:Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter|Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter]]. NASA was able to do so by getting congressional approval for the specific interaction and sharing data with researchers globally.<ref name="sa-20190207">{{cite news | date=7 February 2019 | title=Farside Politics: The West Eyes Moon Cooperation with China |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/farside-politics-the-west-eyes-moon-cooperation-with-china/ | work= Scientific American | accessdate=15 February 2019}}</ref>  NASA stated:

{{Quotation|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.<ref name=sa-20190207/>}}

== Effects ==
Dean Cheng from the Heritage Foundation claimed more interaction with the Chinese is possible in the area of sharing already collected data, and that 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."<ref>[http://www.heritage.org/research/testimony/2014/04/prospects-for-us-china--space-cooperation Heritage Foundation, Prospects for U.S.-China Space Cooperation, April 2014]</ref>

== Criticism ==
[[Biography:Geoffrey Marcy|Geoffrey Marcy]], an astronomy professor at the [[Organization:University of California, Berkeley|University of California, Berkeley]], called the ban "completely shameful and unethical".<ref name="guardiannasa"/> Sir Martin Rees, the current Astronomer Royal of Great Britain, called the ban a "deplorable 'own goal' by the United States".<ref name="guardiannasa">{{cite news|last=Ian Sample|title=US scientists boycott Nasa conference over China ban|url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/oct/05/us-scientists-boycott-nasa-china-ban|newspaper={{wipe|The Guardian}}|accessdate=5 October 2013}}</ref>

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.<ref name="guardiannasa"/> 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.<ref>{{cite web|title=Wolf Disputes Effect of Law on Chinese Participation in Kepler Conference - UPDATE|url=http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/news/wolf-disputes-effect-of-law-on-chinese-participation-in-kepler-conference|publisher=spacepolicyonline.com|accessdate=22 November 2013}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{colbegin}}
*[[Astronomy:Politics of the International Space Station|Politics of the International Space Station]]
*[[Engineering:Space advocacy|Space advocacy]]
*[[Astronomy:Space law|Space law]]
*[[Social:Space policy|Space policy]]
{{colend}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}



[[Category:NASA]]

{{Sourceattribution|China exclusion policy of NASA|1}}