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The Scientist: NewsBlog:
China gunning for brain gain
Posted by Bob Grant [Entry posted at 21st January 2009 03:49 PM GMT]
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Return to Top comment: Not that scary... by Andrew Sun [Comment posted 2009-01-24 04:12:03] Truth of the Nature is much less harmful to Chinese political ideology than in the western society where Catholic power is still prevailing. In China one has no ethical burden to conduct embryonic stem cells or GM-crop research. There is no unnecessary additional paragraphs after texts of evolution theory in our biology textbooks. We dare to discuss whether to give up traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), which is much more important than 'alternative' for Chinese people. Here, we censor FOR science, not against science. Maybe these may one day go to an extreme that can hinder the freedom of scientific finding (e.g. by too easily tagging an idea with 'pseudoscience'), but currently China can provide a different environment of scientific career from the western society.
The true illness in science infrastructure of China is rather the imperfect rules and 'manipulated'/'handled' process of fund distribution among scientists. However, 'dear foreign scholars' can only be the beneficiaries in this kind of unbalanced situation, if you don't feel ethically guilty. Return to Top comment: At least China can make good shoes... by anonymous poster [Comment posted 2009-01-21 23:31:08] In reply to the post below, China may still be behind the West in science and technology, but can you blame it for trying to catch up in earnest by attracting talents from outside, especially when it can now afford to? As for freedom of speech, let's not exaggerate the importance of it in science or its degree of extent in the West, including in America. Censorship in politics does not equate to censorship in science, especially when there's no threat to the political establishment. When Russia was governed by communism, it still allowed enough scientific freedom and supports to produce world-class scientists, some of whom even won the Nobel Prizes. I also know from my own personal experience that freedom of expression is sometimes heavily discouraged or curtailed within an American lab by the power-mongering PI's or others with clouts, to quell any dissent to their opinions on scientific or even social matters. You know better than to depict the West as where anything goes in freedom of expression, as practiced in reality. And perhaps a good number of bright and hard-working Chinese expatriate scientists would look forward to returning to China where they will be treated with genuine respect and rewards they deserve, rather than continuously be exploited as cheap imported labor to do most of the difficult or grunt works at the labs in "free" West. Return to Top comment: Doing science is not the same as making shoes by anonymous poster [Comment posted 2009-01-21 15:53:18] To the previous anonymous commenter: in a country whose officials censor translations of Obama's inauguration speech, the spirit of truth seeking does not exist. So even though China has been trying to buy good scientists for at least a decade (with mixed results, I should add), not much good science has come out of China. You don't need to worry: as long as China does not allow freedom of speech and thought, it will not beat the US or Europe in science. Return to Top comment: This is Just the Latest by anonymous poster [Comment posted 2009-01-21 12:41:16] This is China's latest move, which is brilliant! They have so much cash from the imbalance of trade that they are continuing what they have begun long ago. China has been working hard to beef up its scientific brainpower with cold, hard cash for many decades now. It began in the late 70's when that country would send their graduate students to any U.S. university that would take their full tuition payments. Hey, why lose all that money and even have to pay a stipend to the natives?!
It worked like a song, and we can see the results at any basic medical science conference today. Should I say that this is an insidious form of war, where China is looking to "take over"? While it might be politically incorrect to use such terms, I am not hesitant to say yes. Everything is already made in China, from toys at McDonald's to those LG phones to big screen televisions. With this particular brain gain, along with thousands of U.S.-trained scientists coming on home, soon everything else that used to come from our scientific braintrust, drugs and medical devices, will be "Made in China". Within a decade, all we'll have left is guns and Hollywood. Am I the only one to see this? Comment on this blog |