President Trump recently announced a series of harsh measures against China, including the suspension of entry of all graduate and post-graduate students into the United States. I can understand the desire to protect American intellectual property by preventing students from learning skills and intellectual property and then returning to China and making use of them without royalties. But a blanket ban on the entry of Chinese students ignores how the fields of medicine, science, and engineering really work and is likely to backfire spectacularly.
Learning the composition of an alloy or the steps to synthesize a novel reagent is one thing. But the experience and technical know-how to reliably re-create that process? A document laying out the procedure is never enough. It takes people who know how to make use of it. If those people become Americans, then what exactly is China left with? At best, their hackers will download gigabytes of information that no one can use to make anything. The best tactic the US has is one for which China has no answer: guaranteed visas for ALL foreign students, including and especially Chinese ones, in STEM fields.
China will for the foreseeable future be a nation for the Chinese people. As a country, it is based on a concept of shared ancestry (this is a simplification and numerous ethnic groups including the Uighurs live in China, but the national ethos is one of a single, shared ancestry and culture). I doubt many people who are not ethnically Chinese can ever see themselves realistically moving, living, and settling there permanently. But America as a nation is based not on who your parents are and where they lived, but rather on a shared commitment to national ideals. A commitment to liberty, democracy, justice, fairness, individual rights, the rule of law, freedom to dissent, and far more. And anyone the world over can see themselves as Americans. Are we perfect? Of course not. We have many flaws as a nation- racism, politics corrupted by money, structural inequality, a healthcare system that fails far too many of our citizens. Many, many living abroad see our interventions and wars throughout the world as evidence that America is a violent bully, committed to protecting corporations over lives. They see our minority populations suffering injustices and violence. But despite all our flaws and mistakes, America is STILL a beacon. Protestors in Hong Kong wave American flags while demanding democracy for a reason.
Despite our many flaws, scientists and engineers come to the US from around the world because they want to work with the best. Our labs are multinational- graduate students and post-docs from every country and continent make up a remarkable research enterprise. If we deny entry to students and scientists from the 1 billion strong nation of China, they will go elsewhere, and contribute to European, Japanese, Australian, or even Chinese universities and ultimately companies- eventually diminishing our's. Such STEM graduates do not take American jobs (if any immigrants truly do is an open question)- they create value and by living here generate demand for cars, homes, roads, and more. By bringing China's best and brightest here and offering them a visa- we can deprive China of access to the minds and hearts of its most talented citizens in a way they can not retaliate against without turning into East Germany and waging a losing battle to stop their top talent from leaving. Such students WANT to come here. Our free society, our clean air, our well regulated products which don't poison our babies, our hospitals that no one needs to bribe a doctor to get into- we have many flaws as a nation, but there are still many reasons for Chinese students to want to immigrate into and settle in the US. A free society with an independent press is a less corrupt society, a society that is more respecting of individual rights, and a society where corporations are better held in check. We may not be able to shut down a city of several million people as quickly or effectively in response to COVID-19. But our press can at least make sure our numbers are honest and hold the government accountable in it's response.
I am a child of immigrants. My father and his 2 brothers and sister all immigrated from India. Of their children, 4 are doctors, one is a lawyer, others are in business and marketing. All of us contribute greatly to our nation. All of us see ourselves as American. Not half-Americans and half-Indian. Not Indian immigrants. American. That is the power of the American dream and ideal. Do you think any of us could ever think of ourselves as "Chinese"? Even before the recent reports of extraordinary discrimination against foreigners in China, I doubt it. (Indeed, Trump's policy to slash family reunification is just as foolish as his attempt to ban Chinese students- if an immigrant comes to the US but their parents, siblings, cousins, and all of their blood relations remain in another country are they more or less likely to "feel American"?)
Despite all of our many flaws. All of the conflict and pain, the American dream is our most powerful weapon as a nation in the ideological and economic battle with China- and that dream gains power when it is shared, as it should be, with the best and brightest the world over. This idea isn't new, but now more than ever, we need to welcome immigrants with open arms.
Learning the composition of an alloy or the steps to synthesize a novel reagent is one thing. But the experience and technical know-how to reliably re-create that process? A document laying out the procedure is never enough. It takes people who know how to make use of it. If those people become Americans, then what exactly is China left with? At best, their hackers will download gigabytes of information that no one can use to make anything. The best tactic the US has is one for which China has no answer: guaranteed visas for ALL foreign students, including and especially Chinese ones, in STEM fields.
China will for the foreseeable future be a nation for the Chinese people. As a country, it is based on a concept of shared ancestry (this is a simplification and numerous ethnic groups including the Uighurs live in China, but the national ethos is one of a single, shared ancestry and culture). I doubt many people who are not ethnically Chinese can ever see themselves realistically moving, living, and settling there permanently. But America as a nation is based not on who your parents are and where they lived, but rather on a shared commitment to national ideals. A commitment to liberty, democracy, justice, fairness, individual rights, the rule of law, freedom to dissent, and far more. And anyone the world over can see themselves as Americans. Are we perfect? Of course not. We have many flaws as a nation- racism, politics corrupted by money, structural inequality, a healthcare system that fails far too many of our citizens. Many, many living abroad see our interventions and wars throughout the world as evidence that America is a violent bully, committed to protecting corporations over lives. They see our minority populations suffering injustices and violence. But despite all our flaws and mistakes, America is STILL a beacon. Protestors in Hong Kong wave American flags while demanding democracy for a reason.
Despite our many flaws, scientists and engineers come to the US from around the world because they want to work with the best. Our labs are multinational- graduate students and post-docs from every country and continent make up a remarkable research enterprise. If we deny entry to students and scientists from the 1 billion strong nation of China, they will go elsewhere, and contribute to European, Japanese, Australian, or even Chinese universities and ultimately companies- eventually diminishing our's. Such STEM graduates do not take American jobs (if any immigrants truly do is an open question)- they create value and by living here generate demand for cars, homes, roads, and more. By bringing China's best and brightest here and offering them a visa- we can deprive China of access to the minds and hearts of its most talented citizens in a way they can not retaliate against without turning into East Germany and waging a losing battle to stop their top talent from leaving. Such students WANT to come here. Our free society, our clean air, our well regulated products which don't poison our babies, our hospitals that no one needs to bribe a doctor to get into- we have many flaws as a nation, but there are still many reasons for Chinese students to want to immigrate into and settle in the US. A free society with an independent press is a less corrupt society, a society that is more respecting of individual rights, and a society where corporations are better held in check. We may not be able to shut down a city of several million people as quickly or effectively in response to COVID-19. But our press can at least make sure our numbers are honest and hold the government accountable in it's response.
I am a child of immigrants. My father and his 2 brothers and sister all immigrated from India. Of their children, 4 are doctors, one is a lawyer, others are in business and marketing. All of us contribute greatly to our nation. All of us see ourselves as American. Not half-Americans and half-Indian. Not Indian immigrants. American. That is the power of the American dream and ideal. Do you think any of us could ever think of ourselves as "Chinese"? Even before the recent reports of extraordinary discrimination against foreigners in China, I doubt it. (Indeed, Trump's policy to slash family reunification is just as foolish as his attempt to ban Chinese students- if an immigrant comes to the US but their parents, siblings, cousins, and all of their blood relations remain in another country are they more or less likely to "feel American"?)
Despite all of our many flaws. All of the conflict and pain, the American dream is our most powerful weapon as a nation in the ideological and economic battle with China- and that dream gains power when it is shared, as it should be, with the best and brightest the world over. This idea isn't new, but now more than ever, we need to welcome immigrants with open arms.
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