Chinese, US scientists still working together despite Donald Trump’s hostility

Cooperation has even benefited research with potential military applications, at a time of toxic political relations between the countries

US government has put up barriers to collaboration with Chinese academics by cutting funding and revoking visas

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Washington has accused China of stealing US technologies, but the countries’ scientists continue to collaborate. Photo: AFP

Published: 1:00am, 22 Oct 2020Updated: 10:04pm, 22 Oct 2020

In the southeastern Chinese city of Hefei, a team of researchers led by physicist Pan Jianwei has built a new device with potential use in a battlefield.

Pan’s device is the most sensitive light source on Earth. It can produce a single photon, or a particle of light with the spooky behaviour of quantum physics, and these photons can be used to enable ultra-secure communication, detect unknown microorganisms or reveal a submarine lurking hundreds of metres deep in the ocean.

Marlan Scully, a physicist in the United States, has participated in this project, according to their co-authored paper, published in journal Physical Review Letters earlier this month.

Despite the fights and bites between their countries’ governments, scientists in China and the US continue to join forces in research, including for uses that could raise an eyebrow or two.

Pan Jianwei has collaborated with an American physicist to build a device with potential military uses. Photo: Xinhua

Pan is the father of the world’s first quantum satellite, and Scully a leading quantum theorist working at the Texas A&M University and Princeton University. Their collaboration, although it has potential for military applications, leans towards fundamental science, according to researchers who have read their paper.

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