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Bochen Han

Nasa has barred Chinese nationals on US visas from its facilities and networks, in the latest reflection of Washington’s mounting concern over Beijing’s progress in space and other advanced technologies.
Although the space agency has typically restricted the employment of Chinese citizens, those on US visas without affiliations with Chinese government institutions or state-owned companies have been able to contribute as contractors, graduate students, or university scientists.
On Wednesday, Nasa spokeswoman Bethany Stevens said the agency had taken “internal action” pertaining to Chinese nationals. This includes “restricting physical and cybersecurity access to our facilities, materials, and network to ensure the security of our work”, she said.
On September 5, Chinese citizens lost physical and virtual access to Nasa’s data systems and to agency meetings pertaining to their work, according to Bloomberg, which first reported the news, citing people familiar with the situation.
The Chinese embassy in Washington on Wednesday called the move “discriminatory”.
“China has consistently and firmly opposed the US’s generalisation of the concept of national security,” said embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu. “Science and technology issues should not be politicised.”
Both countries plan to send crewed missions to the moon in the next five years, with Nasa targeting a landing in 2027 and China aiming to put astronauts there by 2030.

Last week, acting Nasa administrator Sean Duffy said on Fox News that beating China in the space race was “critically important” and rejected claims that the US was falling behind.
“It’s a military operation for the Chinese. We can’t cede space. We’re the leaders in America,” he said.
At an earlier US Senate hearing last week, lawmakers from both parties stressed the need for the US to return to the moon before China establishes a foothold there.
“China has made no secrets of its goals. It is investing heavily in space capabilities, maintaining a permanent presence in low-Earth orbit and working to plant its flag on the moon by 2030,” said Ted Cruz, the Republican chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.
“Stakes could not be higher,” he continued, adding that if “our adversaries achieve dominant space capabilities, it would pose a profound risk to America”.
Maria Cantwell, the committee’s senior Democrat, echoed Cruz, saying that “beating China back to the moon isn’t just about bragging rights”, and that the US should get there before China establishes a permanent presence.
But some experts say there is still room for mutually beneficial cooperation in space, despite the intensifying competition.
Gregory Kulacki, the East Asia director at the nonprofit Union of Concerned Scientists, said the two countries should be working together in low-Earth orbit, warning that it was becoming “increasingly congested” with new large-scale constellations.
Denis Simon, a non-resident fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, said that Wednesday’s move “feeds into the anti-China paranoia that exists across the US government”.
“Nasa benefits when cutting-edge algorithms…are developed in US labs regardless of the researcher’s passport”, he continued, adding that historically the space agency has clarified its policies to avoid overly broad exclusions. “Today’s shift may again be refined after legal and academic feedback,” he said.
Nasa’s restrictions on Chinese citizens also come as the US House of Representatives is advancing legislation that aims to revive the Department of Justice’s “China Initiative”, a 2018 programme aimed at combating Beijing’s economic espionage that was shut down after criticism that it resulted in racial profiling, failed prosecutions and derailed careers and scientific collaboration over minor infractions, such as paperwork errors.
The report accompanying the House Appropriations Committee legislation taken up and approved on Wednesday described the 2022 decision to end the programme as “deeply irresponsible”.
Similar language is not present in the bill’s Senate version. Still, Democratic lawmakers in both chambers, led by congresswoman Judy Chu of California and Senator Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, sent a letter to congressional appropriators ahead of Wednesday’s committee meeting criticising the measure as “backsliding for civil rights”.
“This prosecutorial initiative was a blunt instrument wielded against anyone who had ‘some nexus to China’,” the 24 lawmakers wrote, noting that “an unacceptably high number” of cases “ended in dropped charges, dismissals, and acquittals”.
In a statement following the bill’s committee approval, the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus vowed to continue its opposition.
“Let us be clear,” the group said, “Congress has a responsibility to protect our national security interests, but the China Initiative did not achieve this goal … We will continue to fight against any programme that places a target on our communities.”
As in previous years, the House appropriations bill includes limitations on Chinese citizens’ access to Nasa, restricting the use of funds to host official Chinese visitors and barring the agency from cooperating with “China or any Chinese-owned company”.
The US Congress has repeatedly sought to limit US-China scientific and technological collaboration. Last week, the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party issued a report criticising the Pentagon for funding projects involving Chinese universities and institutes tied to the country’s defence industry.


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As race to the moon heats up, space agency spokeswoman says move is to ‘ensure the security of our work’


As race to the moon heats up, space agency spokeswoman says move is to ‘ensure the security of our work’.


Nasa blocks Chinese citizens with US visas from its facilities

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}As race to the moon heats up, space agency spokeswoman says move is to ‘ensure the security of our work’

As race to the moon heats up, space agency spokeswoman says move is to ‘ensure the security of our work’