My Take | US persecution of ethnic-Chinese scientists will only benefit Beijing
- Political paranoia and anti-Chinese racism are pushing some of America’s best scientific minds into the arms of China
The Thousand Talents Plan was Beijing’s drive to attract overseas, mostly ethnic Chinese scientists to contribute to research in China. It has become a hit list for US security agencies, such as the FBI, to target its members for spying. No wonder Beijing has stopped talking about it.
Its latest suspect is Charles Lieber, a renowned Harvard chemistry professor. His charge sheet alleges that he lied about ties to research facilities in China. Rather than trying to catch a real spy, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice are likely to make an example of Lieber to warn others against working for China.
Ethnic Chinese researchers, though, have long been at the receiving end of persecution, harassment and discrimination, leading to the repatriation of some high-profile cases to China.
This began before Donald Trump, but recent paranoia and vindictiveness have reached new heights. According to a Bloomberg report, of more than 26,000 security-clearance decisions made on federal contractors since 1996, the failure rates have risen drastically for Americans with Chinese ties, but fallen for those with links to all other countries.
From 2000 to 2009, ethnic Chinese applicants had a similar failure rate as the others: roughly 44 per cent. But from 2010 to now, the China-related denial rate has jumped to 61 per cent while the average for other countries is 34 per cent.