Across the Taiwan Strait, astronomers keen to keep up contact despite Covid and political tensions
- A three-day online radio astronomy event highlights the willingness of scientists from both sides to maintain links with each other
- Organisers say they hope it will open the door to future face-to-face visits and joint projects
Taiwanese and mainland Chinese astronomers say they hope they will be able to continue their decades-long collaboration despite cross-strait political tensions and Covid-induced travel restrictions.
One recent example of their commitment to continued dialogue was a three-day online forum on radio astronomy which attracted hundreds of scientists from mainland China and Taiwan with more than 40 invited speakers.
Shen said the cross-strait astronomical community had been inspired by the event and was full of hope for the future.
“Besides traditional collaboration which is based on co-authoring papers, we are also exploring the possibility of developing instruments together. The important thing is to keep going and keep the momentum,” he said.
Another co-organiser, Liu Sheng-yuan, a researcher at the Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica (ASIAA) in Taipei, echoed Shen’s comments, saying it was a top priority to bring about face-to-face exchanges as quickly as possible.