US space agency NASA confirmed Tuesday that it has "corrected" a decision to ban six Chinese researchers from attending a conference on exoplanet research next month.
"Yes, the scientists of Chinese origin who initially were excluded from applying to attend the Kepler Science Conference at the NASA's Ames Research Center next month now are able to apply," NASA spokesman Allard Beutel said.
In an email to Xinhua, Beutel said the initial decision was " unfortunate" and based on "a misinterpretation" of the agency's policy related to foreign nationals' access to NASA facilities.
"The interpretation was clarified and the decision corrected once the federal government reopened last Thursday," he said.
One of the six Chinese researchers who are originally banned from attending the NASA conference told Xinhua Tuesday he has got security clearance from the space agency.
"Yes, everything is cleared," said the researcher, who refused to be named. "I'll be there (the Kepler conference)."
Before it, NASA sent the six Chinese researchers a letter informing them that their applications for the conference were " being reviewed for clearance."
"We ... are pleased to inform you that this decision has been reversed," the letter said. "We hope you will be able to join us and celebrate the science enabled by Kepler."
At present, it's not immediately known if all of the initially banned Chinese researchers are allowed to attend the Kepler Science Conference, which is scheduled for November at NASA's Ames Research Center in California.
The ban, based on a controversial law passed in 2011 that prohibits government funds from being used to host Chinese nationals at NASA facilities, sparked a boycott of the meeting from several prominent American scientists, including Professor Debra Fischer of Yale University, and Professor Geoff Marcy of the University of California, Berkeley.
Gregory Kulacki, a senior analyst with the US-based Union of Concerned Scientists' Global Security Program, believed that recent problems arising from the ban should be served as a wake-up call for "a few individuals within the United States Congress, in particular Congressman Frank Wolf," who crafted the law.
Kulacki said the language of the law is "so broad, and the legal and financial penalties associated with potential violations so threatening, that even US organizations not directly administered by NASA are afraid to reach out to colleagues in China."
He warned that until the legislation is removed, these kinds of incidents will "remain a constant feature" of US-China relations in space.
簡明釋義：美國航天機搆美國國傢航空航天侷說，已經解除了一項有爭議的禁止中國科壆傢參加下個月在加利福尼亞州舉行的一個科壆會議的禁令。美國航空航天侷星期一在發給************************************的一份電子郵件中說，“起先不被允許申請參加下個月在美國國傢航空航天侷埃姆斯研究中心舉行的開普勒科壆會議的中國籍科壆傢，現在可以申請了。”美國國傢航空航天侷說，最初做出禁止中國科壆傢參加會議的決定是“不倖的”，是出於對政府政策的“錯誤理解”。
