Chinese astronauts appeals for access to the International Space Station, where the United States has barred them for many years now. A Chinese official said on May 26, Tuesday, that the outer space has turned into a field of "strategic competition."
China is calling for wider cooperation among the world's space leaders, specially the U.S., and that its government supports the peaceful use of the outer space, according to an exclusive report by CNN.
The ISS currently hosts 15 countries, including the pioneers in space exploration, the U.S. and Russia. Japan is also part of the cooperation, but China has long been barred from the station by the U.S. government.
The U.S. Congress in 2011 prohibited NASA from having any bilateral contact with China's astronauts, mainly for national security reasons. Experts said the U.S. believes China would take its intellectual property in space exploration.
This longstanding belief was addressed by Ministry of Defense spokesperson Wang Jin on Tuesday, saying that the government "opposes space weaponization and an arms race in outer space."
In 2020, China will launch its own space station. They could become a world leader in space explorations since it receives wide support from the government and generous investors in the country.
China is already a major player in the field at present, according to Xinhua, the state-run news agency. For now, however, they would have to keep calling for access in the ISS.
"As an astronaut, I have a strong desire to fly with astronauts from other countries," Shenzhou-10 mission commander Nie Haisheng said in an interview with CNN in China's Space City last month.
These space missions are a family affair, where China, too, should make its own contributions, Nie Haisheng added. The crew of three looks forward to visit the ISS.
Meanwhile, China is scheduled to launch Tiangong-2, the space laboratory this year.