Editorial | Science pays price as China talent returns
- Harvard professor is latest to join US exodus amid geopolitical tensions at a time when free flow of ideas and cooperation have never been so badly needed
The exodus of Chinese-American scientific talent back to the mainland continues apace. Xie Xiaoliang, a respected Harvard professor, is the latest Chinese scientist to give up his US citizenship to return to the land of his birth.
The biophysical chemist, best known for a DNA research breakthrough used to sequence human cells individually, is part of a trend of returning scientists that is helping China in the globally competitive race for talent.
While the trend is no doubt beneficial to China at a time of a hi-tech race with the West, particularly with the United States, it does not augur well for the free flow of ideas and talent that is the hallmark of science and international cooperation. Meaningful scientific exchanges benefit everyone in the long run.
Yet, at a time of rising geopolitical tensions, this has become increasingly difficult, and many ethnically Chinese researchers are caught in the middle.
More than 1,400 ethnic-Chinese scientists changed their academic affiliation from American to Chinese institutions in 2021, a 22 per cent jump from the year before.
Since former president Donald Trump launched the China Initiative in 2018 under the FBI to combat suspected Chinese theft of US intellectual property, the US has been losing talent to China at an increasing rate.