China is willing to cooperate with the United States on a scientific study of its new lunar samples, but whether such cooperation takes place depends on U.S. government policy, according to an official from China’s National Space Administration. (CNSA) Thursday.
China is open to cooperation with government agencies, enterprises and institutions, as well as scientists and engineers, from the United States, on the basis of mutual benefit and peaceful use of space, CNSA deputy director Wu Yanhua said at her press conference on the Chang’e-5 lunar mission.
Outer space resources are a common human wealth, according to the Outer Space Treaty, and the Chinese government will follow that consensus, Wu said.
The return capsule of the Chang’e-5 probe in China landed on Earth in the early hours of Thursday, returning the first samples collected from the moon, as well as the latest lunar samples in the world in over 40 years.
The Chinese government is willing to share lunar samples and relevant survey data with institutes and scientists around the world for scientific analysis, Wu said.
Unfortunately, in 2011, the U.S. Congress passed a law called the Wolf Amendment, banning U.S. government agencies, including NASA and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, from cooperation with China on space activity, Wu said.
“Whether cooperation depends on U.S. government policy,” he said.