Expires soon! "The United States wants to extend cooperation with China for another six months"
According to Reuters on August 23, the US State Department stated on the 23rd that the US is seeking to extend the decades old US China Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement for six months in order to negotiate with Beijing to "strengthen" the agreement.
According to reports, Beijing and Washington signed this milestone agreement in 1979, which has been renewed almost every five years since its signing. The agreement demonstrates that geopolitical competitors can also cooperate in some scientific and technological fields.
However, due to concerns about China's military growth and the alleged theft of US technology and business achievements by China, some people question whether the US China Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement, which will expire on August 27th, should be renewed.
According to the report, a spokesperson for the State Council told our reporter, "A brief six-month extension will allow the agreement to continue to take effect, and we can seek authorization to negotiate in order to modify and strengthen the terms of the US China Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement. However, this does not necessarily mean that the United States will sign a longer extension protocol."
The State Council stated that the agreement provides a unified standard for intergovernmental scientific and technological cooperation, and if it is not renewed, each relevant institution must sign a separate agreement with Beijing.
▲ Image: In January 2023, people were visiting the Yushu Technology exhibition area at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, USA.
According to the Guardian website on August 23, in 1991, approximately 25 out of every 100000 newborns in the United States suffered from congenital spina bifida, a birth defect that could cause paralysis and brain damage. After 15 years, this birth defect has decreased by nearly one-third. So many babies have been able to avoid such misfortune thanks to a discovery: supplementing with folic acid can significantly reduce the probability of neural tube defects; Neural tube defects can cause spina bifida and a more rare condition - congenital anencephaly.
Tom Frieden, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States, pointed out that this is a "great achievement in the field of public health" and also an achievement achieved in China during the collaboration between the center and researchers from Peking University School of Medicine.
The report states that such cooperation, which has made progress such as reducing air pollution and strengthening understanding of earthquakes, is now facing threats. The US China Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement - the aforementioned birth defect research was conducted within this framework - is set to expire on August 27th. In the context of escalating tensions between the two sides, the future of US China scientific research cooperation has become unpredictable.
US lawmakers from the House Special Committee on China Affairs are urging Secretary of State Antony Blinken to let the agreement expire, lest Beijing use the agreement to "advance its military purposes". Mike Gallagher, Chairman of the House China Affairs Special Committee, has stated that the agreement endangers US intellectual property rights. However, scientists believe that this move will hinder the progress of research on cross-border issues.
According to the report, Deborah Seligson, former science and technology counselor of the US Embassy in China, said, "If the agreement is not renewed, it will have an extremely negative impact on various scientific research cooperation. In areas that we truly care about, such as climate change, cooperation will become more difficult."
According to the report, according to data company Korui Weian, which tracks scientific research, China surpassed the United States in 2020 and became a global leader in total scientific research.
At the same time, multiple indicators indicate that the quality of scientific research in China is also improving. Between 2012 and 2021, China's share in the top 1% of most cited papers increased by 40%, while the United States' share decreased by 18%. According to data from Korui Weian, although the United States still leads, the gap is narrowing. However, other estimates indicate that China has already surpassed the United States.
This is particularly evident in areas that China considers to be strategic priorities. In the field of computer science, China's share of global research far exceeds that of the United States.
The report states that the Biden administration's restrictive measures are a result of the deterioration of US China relations. From 2018 to 2022, the US Department of Justice implemented the "China Action Plan" aimed at eliminating spies in the US research and industry sector. Critics argue that the action plan discriminates against Chinese researchers.
Although Washington has stopped the "China Action Plan," senior researcher Yu Jie from the Royal Institute of International Studies pointed out in a recent report that it has created a strong sense of fear in the scientific community. Several researchers interviewed by The Guardian said that its impact is ongoing.
According to the report, all this, together with the restrictions of the COVID-19, means that the pace of cooperation between US and Chinese researchers and institutions is slowing down. This may weaken some of the most cutting-edge scientific advancements.
According to reports, according to Korui Weian, approximately one-third of research in the telecommunications and computer science fields in the United States was conducted in collaboration with China from 2017 to 2021. One fifth of the environmental research papers published during this period were in collaboration with Chinese scientists. Jonathan Adams, Chief Scientist at the Institute of Scientific Intelligence, the research department of Korui Weian, said, "All high-impact research is international cooperation. Missing that opportunity would be suicidal."
