China has made huge advances in science and technology in recent decades, boosted by an influx of foreign investment and a rise in international cooperation. Now that Western powers see China as a rival and want to put a cap on its tech capabilities, the country will have to work hard to strengthen domestic efforts.
The people-to-people exchanges between the two countries have been in jeopardy since the Trump administration’s trade and tech wars against China. So far, Biden has shown no sign of easing the situation, which threatens to harm both sides and hamper international cooperation in addressing major challenges.
For one week every October, a serious bout of anxiety grips China. But it is not purely down to nervousness over which prominent dissident is in the running for the Nobel Peace Prize, awarded to the Dalai Lama in 1989 and Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The threat of a "brain drain" has long lingered over China's ambitions to transform its economy from one reliant on low-cost manufacturing to one powered by home-grown innovation. Alert to the danger, Beijing has acted swiftly to counter the departure of its scientific and entrepreneurial talent overseas.