Anti-China academic panic is hurting America

Chinese social media is abuzz with the disturbing story of a Chinese woman going by the pseudonym “Meng Fei” who was pursuing a Ph.D. In the United States. When Ms. Meng returned to the United States to finish her studies, she was held in a “small dark room” at Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C., for more than eight hours and left in solitary confinement for another 12 hours. During this time she was unable to speak to her family and friends. She was then sent back to Beijing, where she was forced to pay the $3,700 ticket price on the spot, and has since been banned from entering the United States for five years.

Upon returning to China, Mengfei was able to contact 10 other PhD students. Students who had similar experiences. None of them have conducted classified research, and they fall within the scope of Presidential Proclamation 10043, a Trump-era policy that bans entry into the United States of Chinese students attending universities suspected of having ties to the People’s Liberation Army. There were no apparent undergraduate majors. Although many of these students had won Chinese government scholarships during their undergraduate years, none of them had a clear reason for being detained and refused entry, and all of them had valid visas at the time. Ta.

This kind of treatment is eerily similar to what American academics might expect when visiting China. In the name of protecting research security, the U.S. government has created a law enforcement system based on exclusion and fear that mirrors the very authoritarian society in which we seek to compete. The shakedown at the border Chinese-American scientist They and their families are part of a broader policy aimed at “protecting” American science by treating Chinese scientists with suspicion.

A new study on the impact of the now-defunct China Initiative, a campaign launched by the Department of Justice in 2018 against Chinese theft of U.S. research and intellectual property, reveals a crackdown on Chinese scientists. This shows how counterproductive it is.

At first, the mission of the China Initiative seemed strange to those working at the university. On most campuses, there is no classified research. Basic and applied research is conducted according to an open science model. That means research is open, data is shared, and results are published. How can you steal something that is outdoors?

FBI field offices were directed to travel to American campuses to find Chinese spying cases, and FBI Director Christopher Wray began touting the number of investigations underway. However, these cases show little evidence of actual espionage and instead focus on fraud, often with U.S.-based researchers asking for partnerships with Chinese companies on federal grant applications. This was caused by not properly disclosing the information. This is a real problem, and the FBI has uncovered some actual fraud. Most notable is the case of Charles Lieber, a chemist at Harvard University. Lieber did not disclose his ties to the Chinese talent training program and made false statements to the FBI.

But fraud is not espionage. And after three years of independent research, the China Initiative found only a few cases of actual theft on college campuses. The theory that “Chinese students and scientists are nefarious spies” has been debunked.

Researchers are beginning to demonstrate the impact of these policies on U.S. science. A new paper shows how Chinese and Chinese-American scientists are now becoming more cautious about participating in basic scientific activities and collaborative research. About 35% of Chinese scientists surveyed said they “feel unwelcome in the United States,” and 72% “do not feel safe as academic researchers.” Approximately 45 percent of respondents who had previously received federal funding no longer apply for it, concerned about attracting unwanted attention and being investigated.

Another UCSD study shows how the China Initiative actively undermined scientific productivity in the life sciences and biomedical fields. The researchers looked at the China Initiative before and after it was rolled out, comparing the publication rates of researchers at U.S. institutions working with institutions in China and those working with institutions in other countries. Since 2018, U.S. scientists who collaborated with China saw a 7.2 percent decline in citations, and the impact was even greater for scientists in Asia.

The China Initiative was officially withdrawn in 2022, largely due to an unprecedented backlash from the U.S. scientific community. But some members of Congress are actively seeking to bring it back, and state governments are rolling out new policies that could be even more harmful. Florida’s new law restricts state universities from “receiving grants or participating in partnerships or agreements” with schools from “countries of concern,” including China. This includes funding and research contracts, so universities cannot award Ph.D. No Chinese students will be admitted unless approved by the state board. Florida teachers have petitioned against the measure, citing the need to retain international students.

Creating a hostile environment for Chinese scientists reduces the competitiveness of U.S. science. Students like Meng Fei are at the heart of America’s research enterprise. Approximately 17 percent of U.S. science and engineering doctorates are awarded to Chinese students, and 87 percent of them end up in the U.S. and become part of the U.S. workforce. This is one of the United States’ core advantages in the new competition with China. American universities and society are so attractive that China’s brightest talent wants to come and stay.

Or at least it used to be. Recent data shows that 61% of Chinese researchers in the United States have considered leaving the country. In 2021 alone, more than 1,400 Chinese scientists left the United States for China. Just last month, it was announced that Berkeley math genius Sun Song was leaving to take a teaching position in China.

Our country’s overreaction to the “threat” posed by Chinese scientists should be considered one of the most inhumane and counterproductive policies in this new era of U.S.-China strategic competition. Unless we change the narrative and treat Chinese students and scientists with respect, America will simply alienate them, harm our interests, and accelerate the development of Chinese science. .

Rory Truex is an associate professor of politics and international affairs at Princeton University. His research and teaching focus on Chinese politics.