China looks forward to co-operating with the United States in the space
field, and expects personnel exchanges between the two sides will become
"normal", a senior aerospace executive said yesterday in Beijing.
Asked to comment on the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA)
chief Michael Griffin's upcoming trip to China, the China Aerospace Science and
Technology Corp President Zhang Qingwei said China had always welcomed such
visits.
He said that in January, a bipartisan congressional delegation visited China,
Delegation member Tom Feeney talked about immediate areas of US space
co-operation with China, and reportedly said that future US spacecraft should be
able to dock at the space station China is planning.
Griffin said he had accepted an invitation from the China National Space
Administration (CNSA) to visit China for talks on possible Sino-American space
co-operation. The agenda of the trip has not been announced yet.
"We welcome them (US visitors) to take a look over here," Zhang told China
Daily.
"But personally, I hope the exchanges will become more reciprocal."
Zhang was referring to the fact that while China's door has been open to US
visitors, Chinese aerospace staff have frequently been denied visas in recent
years.
Most recently, when deputy chief of CNSA Luo Ge visited the US earlier last
month, some members of his delegation were denied visas, according to Zhang.
Chinese space scientists have sometimes had difficulty in attending
international space conferences held in the United States, even though the
events were not sponsored by the US, Zhang added.
Zhang said he hoped the situation would change.
NASA chief Griffin was quoted by AFP as saying of his upcoming China visit:
"I think the United States has always benefited from discussions, I do not see
how it can hurt us."