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by 505 3537 days ago
Are the docks compatible with Soyuz?
2 comments

Chinese reportedly use APAS-89/APAS-95 system docking adapters (jointly developed by Americans and Russians) so they be able to dock with currently used Soyuz spacecraft in principle. They should also be legacy compatible with new International Docking System Standard (IDSS).

Emphasis on principle. Until they confirm that their intent is to be compatible and some testing is done to verify it, I don't think anyone wants to dock.

no.
It sounds like there are mixed opinions on that - the Chinese docking system is reportedly a clone of the Russian APAS-89/APAS-95 docking system (which is also in use on the ISS).

So it's possible, but there doesn't seem to be a definitive answer at the moment.

I would have thought there would have been a technology transfer amongst the spacefaring nations, so that just in case they could dock with each other.
That's basically the history of the APAS docking system [1], which was co-developed by American and Soviet engineers.

So why isn't it universal? As usual, XKCD has a compelling explanation: https://xkcd.com/927/

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Androgynous_Peripheral_Attach_...

Also, China was apparently banned from the ISS in 1999 in order to prevent technology transfer.