Fifteen nations including the United States, Russia and Japan cooperate on International Space Station missions, but China's involvement has always been a non-starter because of longstanding resistance from U.S. 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," Commander Nie Haisheng told CNN.
"...Space is a family affair, many countries are developing their space programs and China, as a big county, should make our own contributions in this field."
The comments came 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 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.
"Every time it gets mentioned at all anywhere near Congress, it gets shut down immediately," space analyst Miles O'Brien told CNN.
"There is tremendous skepticism there about China. It is viewed as a foe, it is viewed as a government that seeks to take our intellectual property -- our national secrets and treasure."
In a white paper released Tuesday, China said that outer space had become an area of "strategic competition."
"The Chinese government has always advocated the peaceful use of outer space, it opposes space weaponization and an arms race in outer space. This position will not be changed," Wang Jin, a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense, said.
-CNN
