US spending bill prohibits some US-China collaborations

Science : A clause in the US spending bill signed into law last week prohibits US-China collaborations that involve NASA or the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. The author of the clause, Representative Frank Wolf (R-VA), is a fierce opponent of the Chinese government; he has long criticized China’s policies toward Tibet and its suppression of religious and minority leaders and political dissidents. Wolf says the US doesn’t want to give China “the opportunity to take advantage of our technology, and we have nothing to gain” from dealings with that nation. White House officials say that they are still reviewing the bill’s language, writes Jeffrey Mervis for Science.