They said a limited space partnership between the countries “could reduce tensions and the potential for a destabilising space race”
Advisers to U.S. President-elect Joseph Biden believe it is important for the U.S. to cooperate with China in the space sphere. It was reported on Sunday by Politico newspaper.
According to the paper, the Democrat’s entourage believes that despite “the theft [by China] of US technology and its use for military purposes, a limited space partnership between Beijing and Washington could reduce tensions and the potential for a destabilizing space race.”
“The move would be similar to cooperation between US and Russian civilian space programs at the height of the Cold War”, – says Politico.
The newspaper notes that discussions about cooperation with China in space exploration became particularly urgent after the return capsule of China’s Chang’e-5 unmanned spacecraft carrying lunar soil samples successfully landed in China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region on Thursday. China thus became the first country in 44 years (after the Soviet Luna-24 in 1976) to carry out a project to deliver geological samples from the lunar surface to Earth.
Most of the nearly 20 former astronauts, officials and experts Politico polled agreed that “America could lose its position as global leader in the space arena if it completely divests itself of China”. In turn, U.S. lawmakers, according to the publication, are skeptical of cooperation with Beijing in the space industry, arguing that anything the U.S. shares with the PRC could end up hurting the United States.