China's Jade Rabbit Moon rover sends back first photos

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77. GOP Congress has kept us from working with China

What stupid, short-sighted thinking.

Despite growing trade ties between both countries, a close scientific partnership with China has been rejected by several American politicians including Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), who in 1999 stated:
"They (China) are the evil empire".[3]
In 2010, Rep. John Culberson (R-TX) urged President Barack Obama not to allow further contact between NASA and the China National Space Administration (CNSA). In a letter addressed to the President, he wrote:
I have grave concerns about the nature and goals of China’s space program and strongly oppose any cooperation between NASA and CNSA’s human space flight programs without Congressional authorization.[4][5]
In April 2011, the 112th United States Congress banned NASA from using its funds to host Chinese visitors at NASA facilities.[2] As stated under Public Law 112-55, SEC. 539:

Geoffrey Marcy, an astronomy professor at the University of California, Berkeley, called the ban "completely shameful and unethical".[1] Sir Martin Rees, the current Astronomer Royal of Great Britain, called the ban a "deplorable 'own goal' by the US".[1]
In 2013, a number of American scientists decided to boycott a NASA meeting, with senior academics either withdrawing individually, or pulling out their entire research groups.[1] This was in response to actions by officials at NASA Ames to prohibit Chinese nationals from attending the Kepler Science Conference II. Rep. Frank Wolf was quick to respond in a letter to NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden, saying that the restriction only applied to bilateral meetings and activities between NASA and the Chinese government or Chinese-owned companies. The NASA Ames officials had mischaracterized the law as Kepler Science Conference II is a multilateral event.[8]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_exclusion_policy_of_NASA