How far – if at all – should the USA cooperate with China in space?

China has engaged in a steady, long-standing effort to build and strengthen its space capabilities, achieving progressively more ambitious milestones and staking its claim as a major space power. It is also increasingly engaging in cooperative efforts. A number of issues must be weighed, however, before the USA should consider any collaboration with it. These include the essentially military nature of China’s space program, the fact that China’s intentions in space and decision-making process are far from ‘transparent’, and the way it uses its space activities to pursue foreign policy goals. While the latter could be useful in, e.g., reducing tensions on the Korean peninsular through a space-services-for-giving-up-missiles tradeoff, and while there is scope for collaboration in space science missions, there are no compelling reasons for the USA to pursue cooperation in human spaceflight with China.