Given the accepted narrative of the space environment as congested, contested and competitive, the U.S. has been told to deter, defend and defeat Chinese challenges in space. This rhetoric wrongfully assumes challenge and elides preemption with prevention.

The first Chinese space station outside of its territory will open in Argentina in 2016 – a logical place for a satellite communication station located on the opposite side of the globe as China. Notably, China and Argentina have strengthened bilateral relations over the past few years through increased trade and loans. While the U.S. has historically remained out of favor, this development has alerted some U.S. officials.

NASA’s ban on Chinese researchers and scientists at next month’s meeting at the Ames Research Center has caused outcry far and wide. While the backlash against NASA has came mostly from big name research institutions, like Yale University, Wu Zurong writes that US politicians stuck in a Cold War-mindset are to blame.