BEIJING: In the four decades since China and the United States normalised relations, Washington has generally welcomed Chinese scholars and researchers to America, even when Beijing has been less open to reciprocal visits. Republican and Democratic administrations have operated on the assumption that the national interest was well served by exposing Chinese academics to American values.
Now, that door appears to be closing, with the two nations ramping up their rivalry and each regarding academic visitors from the other with greater suspicion — of espionage, commercial theft and political meddling. The FBI has mounted a operation that aims to bar Chinese academics from the US if they are suspected of having links to Chinese intelligence agencies. As many as 30 Chinese professors in the social sciences, heads of academic institutes, and experts who help explain government policies have had their visas to the United States cancelled in the past year, or put on administrative review, according to Chinese academics and their US counterparts.
In a written response to questions, a state department official said American law enforcement believed Chinese intelligence were increasingly using visiting Chinese scholars to target US citizens for intelligence gathering purposes. The department said it would not discuss the details of specific cases. The FBI said that it would not confirm or deny any investigations into the scholars’ visits.
The Trump administration has sought to crack down on what it sees as intellectual property theft by Chinese scientists working at American research institutions. Last year, it began restricting visas for Chinese graduate students studying in sensitive research fields and warned biomedical researchers at US universities to beware of Chinese spies trying to steal information from their laboratories. At the heart of the US’ concerns is the view that China poses a threat to America’s technological dominance. President has set a goal for China to become a global scientific power by 2049.