This article comes from Caijing, reporters Liu Yiqin and Jin Yan, the original title "investigation of Chinese Thousand talents Plan Scholars, US Science and Technology restrictions on China escalated again"

From Chinese enterprises to Chinese capital, and then to Chinese scholars, US restrictions on scientific and technological exchanges in China have been escalated again and again, which will have a negative impact on the scientific and technological development of China and the United States.

Since the beginning of this year, the United States has increasingly restricted the exchange of science and technology with China. At present, the scope has been extended to Chinese Thousand talents Plan scholars in the United States.

Recently, there has been a rumor that the Anderson Cancer treatment and Research Center in Houston is firing Chinese scholars of China's Thousand talents Plan. It is rumored that the Federal Bureau of investigation (FBI) provided a list of Chinese professors and scholars and asked the agency to fire or dismiss them unconditionally.

In response to confirmation from Caijing, the research center replied that, as an institution, the Anderson Cancer treatment and Research Center does not comment on confidential personnel actions. The Anderson Cancer treatment and Research Center complies with state and federal employment laws, especially without discrimination on the basis of race or nationality.

The Thousand talents Plan is a national strategy to introduce high-level overseas talents, and nearly 8000 overseas high-level experts have been selected since 2008.

A Thousand talents Plan expert who has returned to China also told Caijing that the relevant US departments have already begun to pay attention to and investigate Chinese experts and scholars, of which the "Thousand talents Plan" scholars are the focus of attention, but he said: "I have not heard of specific cases of direct dismissal and removal. "

To be sure, Thousand talents Plan scholars have encountered unprecedented difficulties in the United States, and life is not easy. Among Chinese scholars, the Thousand talents Plan and its situation have also become a sensitive topic. Some Chinese scholars interviewed by Caijing said that they do not want to talk about it in depth. Some scholars say that the current trend is that American universities are gradually taking measures. At least those experts and scholars who have joined the Thousand talents Plan need to give an explanation and explanation.

A Chinese professor from a well-known American university confirmed to Caijing that some of the thousands of scholars still in the United States have been interviewed by the FBI, and in some places even the police are taking part in the investigation.

In this regard, the relevant departments of the US State Department told Caijing that the US State Department, through the State Department's Bureau of Education and Culture (ECA) and EducationUSA, encourages countries to carry out cultural and academic exchanges with the United States and promote countries to study and research in the United States. There are many Chinese students and scholars in American schools and universities, and the United States will continue to welcome Chinese students and scholars.

However, as the law enforcement unit of the U.S. Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of investigation (FBI) has independent law enforcement power.

Previously, US restrictions on scientific and technological exchanges with China have remained at the corporate and capital level, and have now spread to individual scholars. In June, the White House tightened restrictions on Chinese scientists, and the State Department shortened the visa stay for Chinese students studying in sensitive research areas from five years to one year.

In the past few decades, the United States has been the highland of scientific and technological innovation, and the limited exchange of talents in China's cutting-edge scientific and technological fields is undoubtedly a blow, but at the same time, Chinese scientific and technological circles should also rethink how to better establish a talent training system.

A comprehensive investigation begins.

A statement from Texas Polytechnic University obtained by Caijing said that both parties in the US Congress are considering legislation to impose sanctions on American teachers participating in China's Thousand talents Plan. At present, the university has cancelled an invitation to visit a Chinese visiting professor.

"fortunately, I have returned home. A member of the Thousand talents Plan, who works in the field of artificial intelligence, said, "it's just a layoff right now, and it's impossible to say what more serious things will happen after that. Members of the Thousand talents Plan later returned to China to start a business.

There are early signs that the United States has focused on the issue of scholars of the Thousand talents Plan in China.

In May, the House of Representatives passed a defense authorization bill, including an amendment that allows the Defense Department to suspend funding and other incentives to individuals involved in talent programs in China, Iran, North Korea or Russia.

At the time, Congressman MIke Gallagher, who proposed the amendment, said that if Chinese scholars were participating in programs such as the Thousand talents Plan, they might not be able to obtain education, training and research funding from the U.S. Department of Defense.

In 2008, China began to implement the Thousand talents Plan, that is, the overseas High-level Talent introduction Program. In addition to the Thousand talents Plan, there are many similar talent introduction programs in China, including the Yangtze River Scholars Award Program of the Ministry of Education, the 100 talents Plan of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the National Outstanding Youth Science Fund of the Natural Science Foundation of China, and talent introduction programs of other departments and provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities.

Experts and scholars participating in these talent introduction programs can receive financial assistance of about 10 to 2 million yuan per capita, and when they return to work, their salaries will also be 2-4 times higher than the average salary of their posts, in addition to many special benefits.

The premise of the state-supported "Thousand talents Plan" scholars is that they must ensure that they have a certain amount of time in China every year. This is the main reason why the relevant departments in the United States are on guard.

It is true that some thousand scholars have concealed from the United States the fact that they have long-term positions in China and still retain their full-time positions in the United States.This is very likely to violate some of the regulations of their employers in the United States and can dismiss you as a result. "the Chinese professor said," of course, the background is the escalation of the Sino-US trade war. "

The Thousand talents Plan is divided into "Big Thousand talents" and "Little Thousand talents" (also known as Youth Thousand talents Plan). The list of "small Thousand talents" is available to the public, and the detailed list of "Big Thousand talents" is not publicized. However, many domestic units will publish the list of thousand scholars they have introduced online. All these provide direct information for the US investigation plan.

For a while, people were in a panic, and an expert in the Thousand talents Plan for returning to China was preparing financing for his start-up project. as soon as the news came out, he was very nervous. He said, "I am worried that investors will have doubts about our background." He immediately told the investors he was in contact with that he had returned home completely and had no plans to continue his scientific research in the United States.

Is there "technology espionage"?

The vigilance of the relevant agencies in the United States is not groundless.

In July, the Federal Bureau of investigation (FBI) accused Zhang Xiaolang, a former Chinese employee of Apple Inc (223.85, 5.52,2.53%), of stealing trade secrets involving Apple Inc's autopilot technology and trying to bring it back to China. Zhang Xiaolang was arrested at a US airport on July 7.

The matter has also sparked a heated debate in the domestic science and technology circle. In the past few decades, the United States has been in the highland of scientific and technological innovation, and scholars and practitioners in many countries, including China, are actively interacting with the American scientific and technological community. But at the same time, many people also wonder whether it is worth encouraging or immoral to bring home the scientific research achievements or core technologies obtained in the United States.

According to a statement from Texas Polytechnic University, China has vigorously promoted the Thousand talents Plan, which aims to establish highly competitive research projects that will enable China to narrow the technological gap between China and developed countries. The US Congress is very concerned about the progress of the project. FBI believes that the project is related to the Chinese "scientific and industrial espionage" under investigation, and that some members of the Thousand talents Plan have close ties to the Chinese military.

A Chinese scholar who has been engaged in medical research in the United States for many years told Caijing that there was indeed a similar case of "science and technology espionage". A professor who worked with the scholar in medical research in the United States previously. Bringing back the results of scientific research in the United States has been banned by the US government. "if your scientific research uses funds from the United States, the results you have made cannot be brought back to China. "

However, the above-mentioned medical scholars in the United States said, "after he returned to China to teach, he was very popular with the students, but almost all the Chinese scholars in the United States and domestic scholars I knew did not agree with his approach. "

What needs to be clarified is that having a scientific research background in the United States and returning to China to engage in related work is not the same as "scientific and technological espionage." Science and technology have no national boundaries, but intellectual property rights need to be strictly protected. It is relatively easy to judge "espionage" between enterprises, but once it rises to the national level, it seems difficult to easily judge right and wrong.

Another expert from China's Thousand talents Plan believes that the line between academic exchanges and scientific and technological espionage should be clarified, only in terms of academic exchanges, to study advanced technology abroad, and to return to China to help related industries and scientific research development. "isn't that what all countries are doing? "

If you hurt the enemy a thousand, you will damage yourself eight hundred.

The exchange of talents is not as expected, and there are losses for both China and the United States.

For China, once it encounters a technological blockade, the development of many industries involving cutting-edge technology will be limited. The introduction of overseas talents has played a significant role in promoting the development of domestic advanced technology industries. Take the artificial intelligence (AI) industry as an example. At present, most of the founding members of domestic AI unicorns and quasi-unicorns have American study and work background, while the AI leaders of large technology companies mainly have a background in the United States.

The United States has always taken the lead in the field of basic scientific research in artificial intelligence, and a number of investors interviewed by Caijing also mentioned that in the field of AI entrepreneurship, founders with a US scientific research background are more likely to be favored by the capital market.

And it is not good for the United States. The United States is a country of immigrants. In recent decades, the proportion of immigrants among American scientists has increased rapidly. Previously, Xie Yu, an academician of both academies of the United States and a tenured professor at Princeton University, mentioned in an interview with Caijing that the proportion of immigrants among American scientists is growing rapidly: from 7.2% in 1960 to 27.5% in 2007.

Francis Collins (Francis Collins), director of the National Institutes of Health, said in an interview with the media on September 10th, "We have also gained a lot through cross-border talent exchange and cooperation." "

The indiscriminate screening of Chinese Thousand talents Plan scholars and restrictions on visas for Chinese students in sensitive majors in the United States will have a negative impact on attracting more Chinese scholars to join the US scientific research industry.

From Chinese enterprises to Chinese capital to Chinese scholars, US restrictions on scientific and technological exchanges with China have been launched in an all-round way, which will have a negative impact on the scientific and technological development of China and the United States.