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Business Standard
4 days ago
- Business
- Business Standard
China really wants to attract talented scientists. Trump just helped
China was already scoring wins in its rivalry with the United States for scientific talent. It had drawn some of the world's best researchers to its campuses, people decorated with Nobel Prizes, MacArthur 'Genius' grants and seemingly every other academic laurel on offer. Now the Trump administration's policies might soon bolster China's efforts. Under President Trump, the United States is slashing the research funding that helped establish its reputation as the global leader in science and technology. The president is also attacking the country's premier universities, and trying to limit the enrollment of international students. Scientists from China are under particular pressure, as U.S. officials have said that they may pose a national security threat by funneling valuable knowledge to China. Chinese-born scientists have been investigated or even arrested. Last week, the Trump administration said it would work to 'aggressively revoke' the visas of Chinese students in 'critical fields.' And Chinese institutions have been quick to try and capitalize. Universities in Hong Kong and Xi'an said they would offer streamlined admission to transfer students from Harvard. An ad from a group with links to the Chinese Academy of Sciences welcomed 'talents who have been dismissed by the U.S. NIH,' or National Institutes of Health. 'The United States is shooting itself in the foot,' said Zhang Xiaoming, an anatomy expert who last year left the Baylor College of Medicine, in Texas, to lead the medical education program at Westlake University, a research university in the tech hub of Hangzhou. 'Since I went to the United States more than 30 years ago, so much of its research has been supported by foreigners, including many Chinese,' said Professor Zhang, who emphasized that he was speaking for himself, not his employer. 'Without foreigners, at least in the field of scientific research, they can't go on.' On its own, China had become more attractive to scientists in recent years because of the huge investments the country has made in research. Westlake is a prime example. Established in 2018 by several high-profile scientists who had themselves returned to China from the West, Westlake's campus exudes technological advancement. A spaceship-like tower looms over rows of research laboratories. Computing centers and animal testing facilities cluster around a central lawn, in a shape designed to evoke a biological cell. In its main academic building, portraits of dozens of professors are on display — all of whom were recruited from overseas. There is Guan Kunliang, a biochemist who won a MacArthur 'Genius' grant while in Michigan; Cheng Jianjun, a materials engineer honored multiple times by the National Science Foundation; Yu Hongtao, a Harvard-educated cell biologist who received millions in funding from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Maryland. Recruitment notices advertise high compensation, in line with those at top foreign universities. Westlake has been perhaps the most successful Chinese university at recruiting overseas talent, but it is far from the only one. Between 2010 and 2021, nearly 12,500 scientists of Chinese descent left the United States for China, according to a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The rate of departure was accelerating: More than half of them left in just the five years between 2017 and 2021. The trend has only continued in the last few years, said Yu Xie, a professor at Princeton University who coauthored the study. Nor is it only Chinese-born scientists who are jumping ship. Charles Lieber, a former Harvard chemist who was convicted in 2023 of failing to disclose payments from a Chinese university, recently joined Tsinghua University. Chinese scientists have long flocked to American universities, lured by the promise of a world-class education and resources that their home country could not provide. In the 1980s, Chinese scientists who visited the United States would collect disposable test tubes to reuse in China, said Rao Yi, a neurobiologist at Peking University in Beijing, who studied and worked in the United States for two decades. The admiration continued even as China's economy boomed. In 2020, nearly one-fifth of Ph.D.s in science, technology, engineering and mathematics awarded in the United States went to students from China, according to data from the National Science Foundation. Historically, the vast majority of those Ph.D.s stayed in the United States — 87 percent between 2005 and 2015, the data showed. Many became U.S. citizens, and they have helped the United States accumulate patents, publications and Nobel Prizes. But in recent years, more scientists have been returning to China, drawn partly by government recruitment programs promising them millions of dollars in funding as well as housing subsidies and other perks. China's spending on research and development is now second only to the United States. And Chinese institutions such as Tsinghua and Zhejiang University now routinely rank among the best in the world for science and technology. The investment is part of a plan to turn China into a scientific superpower, especially in strategically important fields such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors and biotechnology. 'The scientific and technological revolution is intertwined with the game between superpowers,' China's leader, Xi Jinping, said last year. At the same time, the United States has been pushing scientists away for years, in particular by investigating their ties with China. Lu Wuyuan, a protein chemist formerly at the University of Maryland, was one of those targeted. He was investigated by the National Institutes of Health for allegedly failing to disclose research ties to China — ties he said Maryland knew about. After 20 years at the university, he quit in 2020. Most of the cases brought under the so-called China Initiative eventually collapsed. Many researchers criticized the campaign as racial profiling. Professor Lu, who now works at Fudan University in Shanghai, said that many of his friends mused about leaving the United States, but most chose to stay because they had built lives there. The Trump administration's assault on research funding may change that. 'If they cut so much funding, I believe that may be the last straw for many people,' Professor Lu said. Still, China faces its own issues in poaching talent. It has become harder for Chinese universities to meet and woo overseas scientists, as Chinese scholars have had trouble securing visas to the United States to attend academic conferences. Researchers in America also face restrictions in visiting China; Texas, for example, prohibits employees of public universities from traveling to China for work. The scientists who have returned to China largely fall into a few categories: those who are early in their careers, or who are nearing retirement, or who felt pushed out by investigations. Established midcareer scholars are still reluctant to leave, multiple scientists said. Professor Rao at Peking University, who was also one of Westlake's co-founders, said that China's progress in recruiting international talent had also been hampered by jealousy among domestic colleagues. 'While funding should increase, it is not the key factor at this stage,' Professor Rao said. 'Supporting scientists based on merit and their good science is the key.' And even at home, scientists are not spared political scrutiny. Chinese universities face limits on free expression, and China's Ministry of State Security has warned that scholars returning from overseas may be spies. Multiple Chinese-born scientists — both those who had returned to China, and those still in the United States — emphasized that they did not want to get entangled in politics. They were just trying to do good work. The simple fact was, many agreed, that it was increasingly easier to do so in China. 'It's hard to survive in America. And China is developing so fast,' said Fu Tianfan, 32, an artificial intelligence researcher who left Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in December to join Nanjing University. 'Whether it was the best choice,' he said, 'it may take some time to say.'
The Star
4 days ago
- Business
- The Star
China really wants to attract talented scientists, and Trump just helped
HANGZHOU: China was already scoring wins in its rivalry with the US for scientific talent. It had drawn some of the world's best researchers to its campuses, people decorated with Nobel Prizes, MacArthur 'Genius' grants and seemingly every other academic laurel on offer. Now, the Trump administration's policies might soon bolster China's efforts. Under President Donald Trump, the US is slashing the research funding that helped establish its reputation as the global leader in science and technology. The President is also attacking the country's premier universities, and trying to limit the enrolment of international students. Scientists from China are under particular pressure, as US officials have said that they may pose a national security threat by funnelling valuable knowledge to China. Chinese-born scientists have been investigated or even arrested. Last week, the Trump administration said it would work to 'aggressively revoke' the visas of Chinese students in 'critical fields'. As a result, many scholars are looking elsewhere. And Chinese institutions have been quick to try to capitalise. Universities in Hong Kong and Xi'an said they would offer streamlined admission to transfer students from Harvard University. An ad from a group with links to the Chinese Academy of Sciences welcomed 'talents who have been dismissed by the US NIH', or National Institutes of Health. 'The United States is shooting itself in the foot,' said anatomy expert Zhang Xiaoming, who left the Baylor College of Medicine in Texas in 2024 to lead the medical education programme at Westlake University, a research university in the tech hub of Hangzhou. 'Since I went to the United States more than 30 years ago, so much of its research has been supported by foreigners, including many Chinese,' said Dr Zhang, who emphasised that he was speaking for himself, not his employer. 'Without foreigners, at least in the field of scientific research, they can't go on.' On its own, China had become more attractive to scientists in recent years because of the huge investments the country has made in research. Westlake is a prime example. Established in 2018 by several high-profile scientists who had returned to China from the West, Westlake's campus exudes technological advancement. A spaceshiplike tower looms over rows of research laboratories. Computing centres and animal testing facilities cluster around a central lawn, in a shape designed to evoke a biological cell. In its main academic building, portraits of dozens of professors are on display – all of whom were recruited from overseas. There is Dr Guan Kunliang, a biochemist who won a MacArthur 'Genius' grant while in Michigan; Dr Cheng Jianjun, a materials engineer honoured multiple times by the National Science Foundation; Dr Yu Hongtao, a Harvard-educated cell biologist who received millions in funding from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Maryland. Recruitment notices advertise high compensation, in line with those at top foreign universities. Westlake has been perhaps the most successful Chinese university at recruiting overseas talent, but it is far from the only one. Between 2010 and 2021, nearly 12,500 scientists of Chinese descent left the US for China, according to a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The rate of departure was accelerating: More than half of them left in just the five years between 2017 and 2021. The trend has only continued in the past few years, said Professor Yu Xie from Princeton University, who co-authored the study. It is not only Chinese-born scientists who are jumping ship. Former Harvard chemist Charles Lieber, who was convicted in 2023 of failing to disclose payments from a Chinese university, recently joined Tsinghua University. Chinese scientists have long flocked to American universities, lured by the promise of a world-class education and resources that their home country could not provide. In the 1980s, Chinese scientists who visited the US would collect disposable test tubes to reuse in China, said neurobiologist Rao Yi at Peking University in Beijing, who studied and worked in the US for two decades. The admiration continued even as China's economy boomed. In 2020, nearly one-fifth of doctorates in science, technology, engineering and mathematics awarded in the US went to students from China, according to data from the National Science Foundation. Historically, the vast majority of those doctorates stayed in the US – 87 per cent between 2005 and 2015, the data showed. Many became US citizens, and they have helped the US accumulate patents, publications and Nobel Prizes. In recent years, more scientists have been returning to China, drawn partly by government recruitment programmes promising them millions of dollars in funding as well as housing subsidies and other perks. China's spending on research and development is now second only to the US. And Chinese institutions such as Tsinghua and Zhejiang University now routinely rank among the best in the world for science and technology. The investment is part of a plan to turn China into a scientific superpower, especially in strategically important fields such as artificial intelligence (AI), semiconductors and biotechnology. 'The scientific and technological revolution is intertwined with the game between superpowers,' China's leader Xi Jinping said in 2024. At the same time, the US has been pushing scientists away for years, in particular by investigating their ties with China. Protein chemist Lu Wuyuan, formerly at the University of Maryland, was one of those targeted. He was investigated by the National Institutes of Health for allegedly failing to disclose research ties to China – ties he said Maryland knew about. After 20 years at the university, he quit in 2020. Most of the cases brought under the so-called China Initiative eventually collapsed. Many researchers criticised the campaign as racial profiling. Dr Lu, who now works at Fudan University in Shanghai, said that many of his friends mused over leaving the US, but most chose to stay because they had settled there. The Trump administration's assault on research funding may change that. 'If they cut so much funding, I believe that may be the last straw for many people,' Dr Lu said. Still, China faces its own issues in poaching talent. It has become harder for Chinese universities to meet and woo overseas scientists, as Chinese scholars have had trouble securing visas to the US to attend academic conferences. Researchers in America also face restrictions in visiting China; Texas, for example, prohibits employees of public universities from travelling to China for work. The scientists who have returned to China fall largely into a few categories: those who are early in their careers, or who are nearing retirement, or who felt pushed out by investigations. Established mid-career scholars are still reluctant to leave, multiple scientists said. Dr Rao at Peking University, who was also one of Westlake's co-founders, said that China's progress in recruiting international talent had also been hampered by cronyism and jealousy among domestic colleagues. 'While funding should increase, it is not the key factor at this stage,' Dr Rao said. 'Supporting scientists based on merit and their good science is the key.' Even at home, scientists are not spared political scrutiny. Chinese universities face limits on free expression, and China's Ministry of State Security has warned that scholars returning from overseas may be spies. Multiple Chinese-born scientists – both those who had returned to China, and those still in the US – emphasised that they did not want to get entangled in politics. They were just trying to do good work. The simple fact was, many agreed, that it was increasingly easier to do so in China. 'It's hard to survive in America. And China is developing so fast,' said AI researcher Fu Tianfan, 32, who left Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in December to join Nanjing University. 'Whether it was the best choice,' he said, 'it may take some time to say.' - NYTIMES
Straits Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Straits Times
China really wants to attract talented scientists, Trump just helped
Last week, the Trump administration said it would work to 'aggressively revoke' the visas of Chinese students in 'critical fields'. PHOTO: AFP China really wants to attract talented scientists, Trump just helped HANGZHOU – China was already scoring wins in its rivalry with the United States for scientific talent. It had drawn some of the world's best researchers to its campuses, people decorated with Nobel Prizes, MacArthur 'Genius' grants and seemingly every other academic laurel on offer. Now the Trump administration's policies might soon bolster China's efforts. Under President Donald Trump, the United States is slashing the research funding that helped establish its reputation as the global leader in science and technology. The president is also attacking the country's premier universities, and trying to limit the enrollment of international students. Scientists from China are under particular pressure, as US officials have said that they may pose a national security threat by funneling valuable knowledge to China. Chinese-born scientists have been investigated or even arrested. Last week, the Trump administration said it would work to 'aggressively revoke' the visas of Chinese students in 'critical fields'. As a result, many scholars are looking elsewhere. And Chinese institutions have been quick to try to capitalise. Universities in Hong Kong and Xi'an said they would offer streamlined admission to transfer students from Harvard University. An ad from a group with links to the Chinese Academy of Sciences welcomed 'talents who have been dismissed by the US NIH,' or National Institutes of Health. 'The United States is shooting itself in the foot,' said anatomy expert Zhang Xiaoming, who in 2024 left the Baylor College of Medicine, in Texas, to lead the medical education program at Westlake University, a research university in the tech hub of Hangzhou. 'Since I went to the United States more than 30 years ago, so much of its research has been supported by foreigners, including many Chinese,' said Dr Zhang, who emphasised that he was speaking for himself, not his employer. 'Without foreigners, at least in the field of scientific research, they can't go on.' On its own, China had become more attractive to scientists in recent years because of the huge investments the country has made in research. Westlake is a prime example. Established in 2018 by several high-profile scientists who had returned to China from the West, Westlake's campus exudes technological advancement. A spaceshiplike tower looms over rows of research laboratories. Computing centers and animal testing facilities cluster around a central lawn, in a shape designed to evoke a biological cell. In its main academic building, portraits of dozens of professors are on display – all of whom were recruited from overseas. There is Dr Guan Kunliang, a biochemist who won a MacArthur 'Genius' grant while in Michigan; Dr Cheng Jianjun, a materials engineer honored multiple times by the National Science Foundation; Dr Yu Hongtao, a Harvard-educated cell biologist who received millions in funding from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Maryland. Recruitment notices advertise high compensation, in line with those at top foreign universities. Westlake has been perhaps the most successful Chinese university at recruiting overseas talent, but it is far from the only one. Between 2010 and 2021, nearly 12,500 scientists of Chinese descent left the United States for China, according to a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The rate of departure was accelerating: More than half of them left in just the five years between 2017 and 2021. The trend has only continued in the past few years, said Professor Yu Xie from Princeton University who co-authored the study. Nor is it only Chinese-born scientists who are jumping ship. Former Harvard chemist Charles Lieber, who was convicted in 2023 of failing to disclose payments from a Chinese university, recently joined Tsinghua University. Chinese scientists have long flocked to American universities, lured by the promise of a world-class education and resources that their home country could not provide. In the 1980s, Chinese scientists who visited the United States would collect disposable test tubes to reuse in China, said neurobiologist Rao Yi at Peking University in Beijing, who studied and worked in the United States for two decades. The admiration continued even as China's economy boomed. In 2020, nearly one-fifth of doctorates in science, technology, engineering and mathematics awarded in the United States went to students from China, according to data from the National Science Foundation. Historically, the vast majority of those doctorates stayed in the United States – 87 per cent between 2005 and 2015, the data showed. Many became US citizens, and they have helped the United States accumulate patents, publications and Nobel Prizes. In recent years, more scientists have been returning to China, drawn partly by government recruitment programs promising them millions of dollars in funding as well as housing subsidies and other perks. China's spending on research and development is now second only to the United States. And Chinese institutions such as Tsinghua and Zhejiang University now routinely rank among the best in the world for science and technology. The investment is part of a plan to turn China into a scientific superpower, especially in strategically important fields such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors and biotechnology. 'The scientific and technological revolution is intertwined with the game between superpowers,' China's leader Xi Jinping said in 2024. At the same time, the United States has been pushing scientists away for years, in particular by investigating their ties with China. Protein chemist Lu Wuyuan, formerly at the University of Maryland, was one of those targeted. He was investigated by the National Institutes of Health for allegedly failing to disclose research ties to China – ties he said Maryland knew about. After 20 years at the university, he quit in 2020. Most of the cases brought under the so-called China Initiative eventually collapsed. Many researchers criticised the campaign as racial profiling. Dr Lu, who now works at Fudan University in Shanghai, said that many of his friends mused about leaving the United States, but most chose to stay because they had settled there. The Trump administration's assault on research funding may change that. 'If they cut so much funding, I believe that may be the last straw for many people,' Dr Lu said. Still, China faces its own issues in poaching talent. It has become harder for Chinese universities to meet and woo overseas scientists, as Chinese scholars have had trouble securing visas to the United States to attend academic conferences. Researchers in America also face restrictions in visiting China; Texas, for example, prohibits employees of public universities from traveling to China for work. The scientists who have returned to China largely fall into a few categories: those who are early in their careers, or who are nearing retirement, or who felt pushed out by investigations. Established midcareer scholars are still reluctant to leave, multiple scientists said. Dr Rao at Peking University, who was also one of Westlake's co-founders, said that China's progress in recruiting international talent had also been hampered by cronyism and jealousy among domestic colleagues. 'While funding should increase, it is not the key factor at this stage,' Dr Rao said. 'Supporting scientists based on merit and their good science is the key.' Even at home, scientists are not spared political scrutiny. Chinese universities face limits on free expression, and China's Ministry of State Security has warned that scholars returning from overseas may be spies. Multiple Chinese-born scientists – both those who had returned to China, and those still in the United States – emphasised that they did not want to get entangled in politics. They were just trying to do good work. The simple fact was, many agreed, that it was increasingly easier to do so in China. 'It's hard to survive in America. And China is developing so fast,' said artificial intelligence researcher Fu Tianfan, 32, who left Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in December 2024 to join Nanjing University. 'Whether it was the best choice,' he said, 'it may take some time to say.' NYTIMES Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Restoration to MacArthur Memorial's 175-year-old dome making headway
NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — The Mermaid City is known for its historic landmarks and structures, but it takes continued preservation efforts to keep them standing tall, and now, there's a focus on the MacArthur Memorial, with special attention to its beloved cupola, currently under construction. MacArthur Memorial artifact a finalist for conservation prize The memorial itself was constructed between 1847 and 1850, serving as Norfolk's very first City Hall and Courthouse. And 1964 was the year it officially transitioned to become the MacArthur Memorial by the city of Norfolk. But atop the site is its most prominent fixture — its 175-year-old dome. 'The interior of the space right beneath the dome is now the final resting place of general of the Army Douglas MacArthur and his wife, Jean MacArthur,' said MacArthur Memorial director Amanda Williams. Restoration to the dome began last November and is financially backed by the city of Norfolk. It was designed by Thomas U. Walter, a notable American architect of the 19th-century, and also, the brains behind constructing the dome of the United States Capitol building in Washington, D.C. 'The dome is one of the great historic structures in Norfolk, and the work is basically to conserve that 175-year-old structure and make sure that we can maintain it in its glory for another 50, 100 years,' she said. 'And so, it's basically just repairing wood that's rotted, painting, and just again, making sure that we preserve it in the way that it was constructed.' The curved structure is 50 feet high and houses what's called General MacArthur's resumé . The dome plays a monumental part in what attracts more than 130,000 visitors a year, especially on holidays like Memorial Day. 'It's a list of some of the major accomplishments and jobs that he held throughout his 52-year Army career. And it's a very, very impressive list,' Williams said. 'General MacArthur's career took him all over the world, and there are a lot of people that come to Norfolk, really to see this museum and to kind of pay their respects to the general and his legacy.' The dome restoration project is expected to be completed in the fall of this year. The MacArthur Memorial at 198 Bank St. in Norfolk is free and open to the public year-round from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. For information on the site's Memorial Day holiday events, click . Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Yahoo
Drug dealer who went on run for three years jailed
A woman who has been on the run for three years after admitting smuggling drugs into prison and importing cocaine into the UK has been jailed. Emily MacArthur, 34, of no fixed address, failed to appear in court back in April 2022 having pleaded guilty to both offences. Her co-conspirator and former partner Dennis Obasi was sentenced to 11 years and seven months in November 2022. On Friday, MacArthur was sentenced to 13 years and 11 months in prison when she appeared at Swindon Crown Court. The hearing was told MacArthur exploited young people and vulnerable women to smuggle her drugs so she could fund a lavish lifestyle. MacArthur was also jailed for the previous guilty pleas, but also for three counts of being concerned in the supply of class A drugs, possession of criminal property, and the failure to attend court. An investigation by the the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit (SWROCU) started when UK Border Force discovered cocaine in parcels in January 2020. Officers stopped three parcels from Jamaica, addressed to MacArthur at flats in Frome and Bristol. Cocaine, with a street value of more than £13,000, was hidden inside what looked to be shipments of seasonings. MacArthur and Obasi had tens of thousands of messages between each other about making lots of money from drugs. In one message, MacArthur talks about "moving to hard food" – meaning cocaine – as she needed £23,000 for a car and wanted to live in a nicer house. Officers from the Metropolitan Police were also investigating MacArthur about the supply of Spice into prisons. Police issued a warrant to search MacArthur's home in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, in February 2020. At the address, they uncovered substantial amounts of Spice and arrested MacArthur and Obasi. Equipment was found showing they had been making fake legal letters - which were not allowed to be opened by prison staff - to smuggle the Spice into jail. Between February 2019 and March 2020, at least 40 fake letters were recovered from 11 prisons in England, each package having between 25 and 50 sheets of infused paper. More news stories for Wiltshire Listen to the latest news for Wiltshire The court heard that after the pair was released under investigation, they carried on drug dealing. Thames Valley Police arrested them when they were seen dropping off two teenagers at an address belonging to a vulnerable man. MacArthur used aliases to move around and avoid capture, but was arrested in Belfast in June 2024. DC Williams from SWROCU explained that MacArthur had been exploiting young people and vulnerable women to smuggle drugs. "It was all just about money and bettering her lifestyle. "She's tried hard over the past few years to avoid being caught but now it's her turn to face justice for the harm she's caused," he said. Follow BBC Wiltshire on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630. Man smuggled drugs into jail with fake legal papers
