China hits out at US after delegates miss major space conference in Washington because of ‘weaponised’ visa system
- Representatives from one of the world’s biggest space programmes fail to attend the International Astronautical Conference in US capital
- Beijing accuses America of disrupting normal exchanges and collaboration between countries by denying or delaying visas
Chinese space officials and experts were unable to attend a major international space conference in the US this week, Beijing said on Wednesday as it blamed Washington for “weaponising” its visa system.
Hua Chunying, a foreign ministry spokeswoman, told a daily news conference in Beijing on Wednesday that the Chinese delegation was absent from the International Astronautical Congress in Washington because the US authorities had failed to grant visas in time.
The absence of representatives from one of the world’s biggest space programmes had raised eyebrows among some delegates, and Hua said the failure to approve visas in time for the event was the “tip of the iceberg”.
She went on to accuse the US of using its immigration system to disrupt normal global communications and collaboration.
According to Hua, China submitted the names of its delegation to the US in July and a group from the China National Space Administration had visited the US embassy for visa interviews more than a week before the conference.
“But the head of the delegation had not received a US visa even after the conference started,” said Hua, adding that several other senior Chinese delegates had also failed to receive visas.