In an exclusive interview with CNN, Chinese astronauts relayed their desire to fly to the International Space Station. China has long been seeking to work with other nations involved in the space station but efforts at gaining access have always been ignored by the United States.
There are 15 countries, including the U.S., Japan and Russia, currently cooperating to keep the ISS up and running. In 2011 though, Congress passed an act barring NASA from engaging in bilateral contact with anyone from the Chinese space program due to concerns over national security. According to Miles O'Brien, a space analyst, mere mention of the topic immediately gets shut down in Congress because of tremendous skepticism about China.
"It is viewed as a government that seeks to take our intellectual property -- our national secrets and treasure," added O'Brien.
China released a white paper, noting that outer space has become a place for strategic competition. Wang Jin, a spokesperson for the Chinese defense ministry, said China has always been an advocate of using outer space peacefully, opposing an arms race in outer space, and the country will be sticking with this position.
The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission released a report stating China's progress in space has "negative sum consequences" for military security in the U.S. Nie Haisheng, commander of the three-person Shenzhou-10 mission, said that the U.S. has nothing to fear, pointing out that the country is a pioneer in the industry.
And despite being shut out of the ISS, Nie said foreign astronauts can come to China's own space station when it is launched. The Chinese space station is expected to be finished in 2022, which is about the same time that the ISS will run out of funding. If the ISS ceases, it's highly likely that China will enjoy the distinction of being the only nation with a permanent space presence.
China first launched a manned space program back in 1992, initially borrowing and buying a great deal of technology from the Russians. In fact, the Shenzhou spacecraft is heavily reminiscent of Russia's Soyuz. In 2003, China moved on to put a man in space for the first time, and in 2008, was able to complete its very first space walk. Also in 2003, the Shenzhou-10 mission crew completed the longest space mission for the country to date, twice docking at the Tiangong-1 space lab. In October 2014, China successfully completed unmanned space mission to orbit the moon and back.
Photo: NASA Earth Observatory | Flickr