The China Initiative is the 'most important thing' for Chinese scientists' migration to the US

The China Initiative is the ‘most important thing’ for Chinese scientists’ migration to the US

by

A growing number of ethnic Chinese scientists have chosen to leave America and return to China in recent years – a flow accelerated by a US government investigation that tried to combat economic espionage but ended up indicting academics, a Stanford University study found.

Although most of China was born, it was founded in the US scientists They intend to stay in the United States, the number of tourists is increasing steadily, from 900 in 2010 to 2,621 in 2021.

And since the implementation of the “China Initiative” in 2018, there has been a 75 percent increase in Chinese scientists leaving the US, according to a group of researchers at the Stanford Institute on the Economy and Institutions of China.

Meanwhile, the percentage of US expats choosing to move to China and Hong Kong has increased from 48 percent in 2010 to 67 percent in 2021, according to a study released on July 15.

“Chinese immigrants have become a large and visible group of people in American science, technology and engineering. However, the pressure of potential government research since the beginning of 2018 of China Initiative … gave Chinese-born scientists in the US a high incentive to leave and a low incentive to apply for government grants,” the researchers wrote.

While attracting and retaining scientific talent from China is “critical to continued US leadership in science”, the group wrote, the figures suggest that achieving that “needs to reduce fear and to cultivate a conducive environment for scientific research”.

The United States Department of Justice has reportedly investigated thousands of scientists suspected of concealing Chinese ties under the China Initiative, which was launched during the former president’s tenure. of Donald Trump system. Many cases were quickly dismissed due to a lack of evidence, and the program collapsed announced in 2022.

However, the research has been criticized for causing significant damage, from damaging academic careers and disrupting lives to having a chilling effect on the scientific community and US-China cooperation.

Earlier this month, former Kansas University chemist Franklin Feng Tao was released of his final judgment under the China Initiative, after five years of legal battle that left his family in dire financial straits.

In their study, the Stanford team used the Microsoft Academic Graph database, tracking the publications of more than 200 million scientists through 2021, to identify 19,955 scientists of Chinese descent who started their careers US but later went to other countries, including China.

Chinese chemical engineer Professor Franklin Tao was arrested during the China Initiative, but later cleared of all charges. Photo: science.org

They found that the number of departures has been increasing since 2010 across the major STEM fields, such as life sciences, engineering and computer science, and mathematics and physical sciences.

Although this change was caused by “pulling factors” from China, with large investments in science and competitive compensation. given to returneesThe China Initiative appeared to be “an important push factor”, the researchers wrote.

In a separate online survey conducted with more than 1,300 ethnic Chinese scientists in the US, researchers hope to better understand the long-term impact of the China Initiative on the scientific community.

They found that 42 percent were “afraid to investigate” the United States, while 65 percent were worried about dealings with China. More than 70 percent of those surveyed “felt unsafe as an academic researcher in the US“.

About half of the participants who had received government grants now wish to avoid applying for them, even if they received them.

On top of that, 61 percent said they had considered leaving the country — a big difference from a decade ago when nearly 90 percent of Chinese-born young researchers said they would stay. US.

“Despite the generally alarming sentiment, 89 percent of respondents expressed their desire to contribute to US leadership in science and technology,” the group wrote.

#China #Initiative #important #Chinese #scientists #migration

Leave a Comment