Regarding:

>>>I was very disappointed by the President's remarks of a few days ago, when asked about China and Mars, asserting in no uncertain terms that there would be no cooperation between the US and China, that our relationship was simply, and only, a competitive one.<<<

Presumably you're referring to this video clip?

Bush's views r/e China & space (online video-clip)

As the well-meaning twit who asked "W." that question, I nevertheless think it's good to have international competition regarding space. Where would we be if it wasn't for the Russians after all? We'd conceivably be unable to reach the Space Station. And as for Mars, if it wasn't for Beagle 2, we'd likely see NASA resume demanding a billion dollars per mission for future Mars missions, to be launched more or less merely every 15 or 20 years (as was sort of the case from the 60's through the 90's).