School of Physics Colloquium

Abstract: Academic collaboration with China was once encouraged by the US government and universities. As tension between the two countries rises rapidly, those who did, especially scientists of Chinese descent, are under heightened scrutiny by the federal government. Law enforcement officials consider collaborating with Chinese colleagues “by definition conveying sensitive information to the Chinese.” In 2015, I became a casualty of this campaign despite being innocent. “China Initiative” established by the Justice Department in 2018 has resulted in numerous prosecutions of university professors for alleged failure to disclose China ties.

In this talk, I argue that academic decoupling is not in America’s interest. It is a tall order to convince the public and policy makers of this fact, but the scientific community must try lest the American leadership in science and technology will be irreparably damaged.