HNGN: NASA Admits Mistake Banning Chinese Students from Conference

NASA is acknowledging it made a mistake rejecting Chinese national students and researchers who registered to attend a NASA conference scheduled for next month in the San Francisco Bay Area, reports HNGN.

NASA Chief Charlie Bolden blamed the mistake on the misinterpretation of a law recently passed by Congress.

The outright ban on the Chinese nationals sparked outrage from American scientists nationwide, with some threatening to lead a boycott of the conference.

But Rep Frank Wolf (R-VA) who authored the law says it doesn’t apply in this case.

The law “places no restrictions on activities involving individual Chinese nationals unless those nationals are acting as official representatives of the Chinese government.” he said.

Bolden says the decision to reject the applicants was done without consulting NASA headquarters.

But others say efforts to undue the rejections may be difficult due to the government shutdown.

You can read more in HNGN.