Good for these researchers. This ban is, as far as I've been able to tell, racism arising from political expediency. If it were about national security, we wouldn't be collaborating with Russia on the ISS (or allowing ourselves to be completely dependent upon Soyuz for access to the station for the indeterminate future). It's not about human rights, either - NASA collaborates with Saudi Arabia, enough said.
But Russia has Soyouz and the Saudis have oil and power. What could the US gain from China? Where there is nothing to gain, there will be no cooperation...
