Photo Credit: Getty Images
Citing security concerns, NASA has implemented a policy that restricts Chinese citizens, including those with valid US visas, from accessing its facilities, a move that effectively bars them from contributing to one of the world's most respected centers for space research.
According to Bloomberg, Chinese nationals who had previously worked at NASA as contractors or students engaged in research discovered on September 5 that they had lost all access to NASA's systems and physical spaces. NASA confirmed the restriction, stating it was necessary "to ensure the security of our work."
China's accelerated space programme has alarmed the US and ramped up the race between the two biggest economies.
Chinese astronauts are already excluded from the International Space Station (ISS) because Washington has barred Nasa from sharing its data with China.
The latest restriction from Nasa only adds to the decline in scientific collaboration between the two sides because of national security concerns.
As they compete to gain a technological edge, Beijing and Washington have also grown increasingly wary of each other. The suspicion has made it harder for some Chinese students, especially those studying science and tech, to get visas, or even enter the US, once they have secured a visa.
There have also been several cases in the US recently of alleged espionage by Chinese nationals, and scientists in particular have come under the scanner.
It's unclear how much notice Nasa gave Chinese nationals who were working for the agency. Bloomberg News reported that they had suddenly found they were denied access to the agency's data systems, and were barred from participating in meetings relating to their work - both in-person and virtual.
Nasa's press secretary Bethany Stevens told news outlets that Nasa had indeed taken "internal action pertaining to Chinese nationals - including restricting physical and cybersecurity access to our facilities".
China has made no secret of its space ambitions, with both Beijing and Washington competing to send their crew to the moon.
The director of the general technology bureau of China's Manned Space Agency last year said US concerns were "unnecessary", calling China's space exploration a "collective mission for humanity".
