NASA: Affiliations with China and Disclosing Current & Pending Support

Since federal fiscal year 2011, federal Appropriation Acts which fund the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have included a restriction which prohibits NASA from engaging in or funding any joint scientific activity with China. Specifically, the Acts prohibit NASA from;

…using funding appropriated in the Acts to enter into or fund any grant or cooperative agreement of any kind to participate, collaborate, or coordinate bilaterally in any way with China or any Chinese owned company, at the prime recipient level or at any subrecipient level, whether the bilateral involvement is funded or performed under a no-exchange of funds arrangement.

In this context, "China or Chinese-owned Company" means the People's Republic of China (PRC), any company owned by the PRC, or any company incorporated under the laws of the PRC, including Chinese universities. The PRC includes Hong Kong and Macau, but not Taiwan (Republic of China).

When a recipient of NASA funding, Cornell University is therefore restricted from collaborating with, either via a funded agreement or through a no-exchange of funds arrangement, China and/or Chinese-owned companies (as defined above) in the performance of the work funded by NASA unless approved by NASA. To ensure compliance with this restriction, NASA requires certifications from Cornell at proposal stage and includes implementing terms and conditions in each award. 

NASA’s internal implementation instructions are codified in;

• Procurement Class Deviation (PCD) 12-01A, February 16, 2012 – Applies to federal contracts and subcontracts (including funding from JPL).
• Grant Information Circular (GIC) 12-01A, September 26, 2012 – Applies to Federal assistance agreements, both direct funded and received via subagreements (including funding from JPL).

There are limitations of NASA Restriction on Activity with the PRC;

• The restriction currently does not apply to efforts funded by other federal and non-federal sponsors.
• Only bilateral activities (i.e. two party agreements) are covered by the restriction. Multi-lateral agreements (i.e. agreements between three or more parties) are not subject to this restriction.
• Agreements for the purchase of non-commercial items of supply from China needed to perform a grant or cooperative agreement are excluded from this restriction. Additionally, agreements for commercial or non-developmental items (as defined by FAR 2.101) needed to perform contracts/subcontracts are exempt from this restriction. Therefore, vendor (i.e. procurement) agreements with PRC entities for commercial or non-developmental items are not subject to this restriction.
• “General scientific discussions” do not constitute a bilateral policy, program, order, or contract and thus are permitted. However, these discussions must not involve discussions of bilateral collaboration between NASA and Chinese entities. See FAQ #8 located at https://science.nasa.gov/researchers/sara/faqs/prc-faq-roses/ for additional information.
• The prohibition does not restrict individual involvement based on citizenship or nationality. Chinese citizenship is not considered an affiliation under these funding restrictions.
  • Example: A Chinese student enrolled at Cornell on a visa would not have to be excluded from participation in a NASA-funded project unless they have a prohibited affiliation, with a Chinese institution.
  • Example: An American citizen who has a faculty position at a Chinese university would have the kind of affiliation that would likely bar inclusion on a NASA-funded project.