NASA称禁止中国籍科学家参会系失误

NASA says it mistakenly banned Chinese scientists from attending a science conference next month, blaming the mix-up on a 'misinterpretation of the agency's policy.'

美国国家航空航天局(NASA)说，它误禁中国籍科学家参加将于下个月召开的一个科学大会，将这一乌龙事件归咎于“对该机构政策的错误解读”。

It was reported earlier this month that NASA had decided to exclude Chinese nationals from the Kepler Science Conference taking place at the Ames research center in California next month. The ban provoked outrage from U.S. scientists and an angry letter from a U.S. congressman who said Congress had never authorized such a policy.

本月早些时候，有报道称NASA已决定不准中国籍人员参加将于下个月在加州艾姆斯研究中心(Ames Research Center)召开的开普勒科学大会(Kepler Science Conference)。此举引发了美国科学家们的强烈不满，一位美国国会议员甚至致信表达了愤怒之情，这位议员说，国会从未批准过这样一项政策。

'Unfortunately, the initial decision was based on a misinterpretation of the agency's policy related to foreign nationals' access to NASA facilities,' said NASA spokesman Allard Beutel on Monday. 'The interpretation was clarified and the decision corrected once the federal government reopened last Thursday.'

NASA发言人比特尔(Allard Beutel)周一说，遗憾的是，最初的决定是基于该机构与外籍人士进入NASA设施有关的政策的错误解读。联邦政府上周四恢复运行后，对政策的解读已立即被澄清，决定被纠正。

Mr. Beutel told Law Blog that the confusion had do with a 'moratorium on granting any new access to NASA facilities to individuals' from China, Iran, North Korea, and several other countries while NASA conducted a review of security processes at its facilities.

比特尔对“Law Blog”栏目说，之所以发生这样的乌龙事件，是因为在NASA对其设施的安全程序进行评估时，曾暂停向来自中国、伊朗、朝鲜和其他几个国家的个人授予进入NASA设施的新许可。

He said organizers of the conference didn't realize that the moratorium is no longer in place.

他说，大会的组织者没有意识到暂停授予许可的状态已经结束了。

After the Guardian published an article about the ban, Frank Wolf, a Republican from Virginia, wrote to NASA chief Charles Bolden on Oct. 8 telling him that nothing in the law prevented the agency from allowing Chinese nationals from going to the conference.

在《卫报》(Guardian)发表了一篇有关NASA禁止中国籍科学家参加开普勒科学大会的文章后，弗吉尼亚州共和党议员沃尔夫(Frank Wolf)于10月8日致函NASA局长博尔登(Charles Bolden)，说法律中没有任何条款禁止NASA让中国籍人员参加大会。

He thought there could be confusion over a law that Congress passed in 2011 forbidding NASA from using federal funds 'to develop, design, plan, promulgate, implement or execute a bilateral policy, program, order, or contract of any kind to participate, collaborate, or coordinate bilaterally in any way with China or any Chinese-owned company.'

他认为，发生这一乌龙事件可能是因为对2011年国会通过的一项法律的误读，该法律禁止NASA使用联邦资金开发、设计、规划、传播、实施或执行任何涉及到与中国或中国所有的公司进行任何形式的双边参与、合作或协调的双边政策、项目、命令或合同。

As you know, the congressional provision -- which has been in place since early 2011 -- primarily restricts bilateral, not multilateral, meetings and activities with the Communist Chinese government or Chinese-owned companies. It places no restrictions on activities involving individual Chinese nationals unless those nationals are acting as official representatives of the Chinese government.

众所周知，2011年初国会通过的法律主要限制与共产主义中国政府或中国所有的公司举行的双边而非多边会议和活动。它不限制涉及到中国籍个人的活动，除非这些人是作为中国政府的官方代表。

The measure was intended to make sure that the United States wasn't cooperating with the People's Liberation Army on developing China's space program. But Mr. Wolf said any additional restrictions against Chinese nationals on NASA centers 'is entirely an agency policy and not covered under the statutory restriction.'

该法律原本意在确保美国没有与中国军方合作开发中国的太空项目。但沃尔夫说，在NASA中心对中国籍人员的任何额外限制都纯属该机构的政策，而不属法律限制范围内。