How Singapore’s scientists partner with Chinese peers despite complicated politics

A quarter of the city state’s science publications are co-authored with researchers in China

International collaborations bring together complementary skills for projects in climate science, pollution, semiconductors and AI

Reading Time:4 minutes

Ang Yee Sin (left), assistant professor at Singapore University of Technology and Design, poses with PhD candidate Su Tong, whose two-year visit to SUTD is funded by the China Scholarship Council. Photo: Handout

Published: 8:00pm, 16 Aug 2022Updated: 8:00pm, 16 Aug 2022

The similarities between Singapore and China might not seem obvious at first glance, but for National University of Singapore (NUS) professor Wong Nyuk Hien, the parallels between the city state and the world’s most populous country have led to a rewarding scientific partnership.

“Working with colleagues from China, to me, is a very natural thing,” said Wong, who collaborates with a team at Xian Jiaotong University in the northwestern Chinese province of Shaanxi in his research on urban heat islands.

“Singapore is so much closer to China in terms of similarities in our urban structure. In Europe and the US, it’s mainly low-rise, and buildings are spread out. But in Singapore, it’s high-rise and highly compact.

“Every time I visit China, when I work with my colleagues from China, I am very much at home. I speak with them with ease, without any problem. The cultural similarities between Singapore and China help to enhance and bond the scientific community.”

While growing geopolitical tensions have complicated international collaboration, Singaporean scientists say they will continue to partner with Chinese peers because of their shared research interests, cultural similarities and complementary strengths.

Almost two-thirds of Singapore’s scholarly output over the past five years has been co-authored with foreign institutions, according to data provided by Elsevier, the world’s largest scientific literature publisher.