This week on Sinica, I chat with David Zweig, a veteran China scholar who is Professor Emeritus from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. We discuss Davis'd latest book, The War for Chinese Talent in America, which looks at Chinese efforts to harness the intellectual firepower of Chinese scientists and engineers who studied abroad, especially in the United States, and bring them — or at least their knowledge —back to China. David's book takes a balanced look at both the very real problems generated by Chinese policies as well as the overreaction by the U.S. Department of Justice in the form of the infamous China Initiative.
3:40 – Why got David interested on this particular topic
7:07 – The diaspora option
12:09 – The Thousand Talents Program/Plan
18:28 – How the talent programs operate
23:48 – Motivations for Chinese to participate in the talent programs, how geopolitics now impacts these decisions, and what the effect of the China Initiative has been on collaboration
36:29 – The China Initiative’s climate of fear and the concern for racial profiling
49:40 – The extent of the validity of U.S. security concerns
57:24 – David’s suggestions for balancing national security interests and open scientific exchange
Paying It Forward: Dan Lynch and his book, China’s Futures: PRC Elites Debate Economics, Politics, and Foreign Policy
Recommendations:
David: It’s a Wonderful World — The Louis Armstrong Musical in New York
Kaiser: The Invention of Yesterday: A 50,000-Year History of Human Culture, Conflict, and Connection by Tamim Ansary, especially the audiobook read by the author
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