The Chinese come to the rescue of NASA and the movie literally concludes with one of the American heroes fist-bumping a Chinese astronaut on a joint mission back to Mars. It's a sad reminder of how bad the new cold war has become in just a few years.
2015: :wholesome: We can explore space together! :solidarity:
2022: President Xi is going to invade Taiwan at any moment LAUNCH THE NUKES NOW! :guts-rage:
:sadness:
No it’s not.
China space plays a role in that they willingly scuttle their planned launch to help NASA as they have a rocket ready.
NASA actually refuses the mission due to the risk of the space ship and the crew. The astronauts and some ground control basically YOLO it so NASA has to help.
The book is clearly about the risks we should perform to rescue those in need instead of shrugging and letting people just.. die.