US Welcomes Cooperation With China In Space, Remains 'Very Guarded' - NASA Administrator

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd May, 2022) The United States has provided China with numerous opportunities to engage in cooperation in space and would welcome such engagements but remains "very guarded" given that Beijing is not transparent, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said during a congressional testimony on Tuesday.

"They (China) are simply not transparent. They have not cooperated. We have given them ample opportunities," Nelson said. "We would welcome that but we would be very guarded in our dealings with the Chinese."

Nelson provided an example of such a missed opportunity to cooperate by pointing out that life was threatened on Earth with the uncontrolled entry of China rocket's first stage phase when Beijing put up a space station.

"Not only had they save enough fuel for a controlled reentry and than Goodness, it came down in the Indian Ocean but it could have come down in Europe, it could have come down in Saudi Arabia and not only had they not done that but they refused to give us coordinates and information about the track," he said.

Nelson also said the Chinese had their own information about the track of the rocket and were on top of it.

"But it's just another illustration," he said, adding that that attitude is a great contrast to what the cooperation the United States has had with Russia since the time of the Soviet Union in 1975.

Nelson said China at present continues to display a lack of transparency and willingness to cooperate with the United States and other countries in space.