Commander Nie Haisheng, China’s most experienced astronaut, told CNN in an interview that the country needs greater cooperation from other nations in space, majorly the United States.

So far fifteen nations including the United States, Russia and Japan cooperate on mission to International Space Station (ISS). But China’s involvement in such missions has always been a non-starter because of longstanding resistance from US legislators.

“As an astronaut, I have a strong desire to fly with astronauts from other countries. I also look forward to going to the International Space Station”, he said.

Space is a family affair, and many countries are working hard for their space programs and China, as a big county, should make its own contributions in this field, he added.

These comments were given during a wide-ranging and exclusive interview with the three-person crew of the Shenzhou-10 mission inside Space City, the center of China’s space program, near Beijing in the last month.

In 2011, Congress passed an act to bar NASA from having any bilateral contact with individuals of the Chinese space program because of national security fears.

Space analyst Miles O’Brien told CNN that there is skepticism about China. China is viewed as an enemy, or as a government that aims to take intellectual property, national secrets and treasure from the US.

China in a white paper released Tuesday stated that outer space had become an area of strategic competition.

The Chinese government has always advocated the peaceful use of outer space. It is against space weaponization and an arms race in outer space, Wang Jin, a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense, said.

Also, a recent report for the US -China Economic and Security Review Commission stated that China’s improving space capabilities had negative sum consequences for US military security.