Where Science Meets Foreign Policy

US lawmakers and officials continue to debate whether the US should engage with China on scientific matters, Nature's News Blog reports. John Holdren, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, argued at a hearing yesterday that by working with China, the US can encourage the country to change, while Frank Wolf (R-Va.) said detachment would show that the US opposes a number of China's policies. Wolf, who chairs the subcommittee that oversees OSTP’s funding, has drawn up a ban on bilateral science talks with China. The hearing also debated whether Congress has the right to ban such talks. "That discussion, regarding the balance of powers between the executive branch run by the President and the legislative branch of Congress, may ultimately have to be decided by the courts," Nature adds.