📋 Tender Overview
Recently, some media reported that the US Ambassador to China Mr. Burns claimed that "China has no intention of cooperating with the United States in lunar exploration", in response to which Xu Hongliang, spokesman of the China National Space Administration, told the media that the Chinese government has always adhered to the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes, carried out international space exchanges and cooperation on the basis of equality, mutual benefit, peaceful use and inclusive development, and actively promoted the building of a community with a shared future for mankind in the field of outer space. China attaches great importance to international cooperation in the field of space and has always adhered to an open and inclusive attitude towards space exchanges with the United States.
Xu Hongliang said, "But what puzzles me is that on the one hand, the United States keeps saying that it will cooperate and apply, and on the other hand, some people highly respect the 'Wolf Clause' that restricts cooperation with China's space industry, and have said on different occasions that the 'Wolf Clause' should be made permanent." I don't understand whether the US side is playing with words and playing ball. ”
In 2006, the Chinese and U.S. space agencies established a working group mechanism for space cooperation in earth science and space science, and had many exchanges on areas of common interest. In 2011, the introduction of the "Wolf Clause" by the United States almost completely interrupted the exchanges between Chinese and American space agencies. In 2015, the U.S. side proposed that the U.S. State Department take the lead in establishing a China-U.S. civil space dialogue mechanism, and China has responded positively, holding three dialogue meetings so far, but the fourth meeting originally planned to be hosted by the U.S. side has not been held for a long time. China has repeatedly pushed the market to no avail. It can be seen that China has always been a supporter of China-US space exchanges, and we have also learned that there are strong calls in the United States for the abolition of the "Wolf Clause" and the resumption of cooperation in lunar exploration and deep space. The U.S. government has repeatedly handled space cooperation with China with a Cold War mentality, and the root cause of China's inability to cooperate in space is actually in the United States.
At present, the China National Space Administration has signed more than 170 cooperation agreements or memorandums of understanding with more than 50 countries, space agencies and international organizations on behalf of the Chinese government. Among them, there is not only cooperation with Russia, France and other space powers, but also cooperation with developing countries such as Brazil and Pakistan; There is cooperation in major lunar and deep space exploration projects such as Chang'e-4 and Tianwen-1, as well as cooperation in earth observation such as the China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellite and the Sino-French Ocean Satellite.
China has never had any document, regulation, or clause restricting cooperation between China and the United States. Many colleagues in the international community have called on the United States to remove the stumbling block of the "Wolf Clause" and hope that the "Wolf Clause" will no longer be a tool for stirring up cold rice. We also call on people of insight in the United States to consider how to get rid of this obstacle. Space exploration never ends. For the sake of scientific research and the promotion of the common well-being of all mankind, we look forward to carrying out more extensive and in-depth international exchanges and cooperation with all countries in the world.
