A sign is displayed at the University at Buffalo in Amherst, New York. （PHOTO: VCG）

The academic decoupling of the United States and China began a little more than five years ago after U.S. government agencies began to crackdown on academic collaborations, fearing that close ties between American and Chinese universities, scholars, and scientists were threatening the national security of the United States.

Recent research has demonstrated that the Department of Justice’s China Initiative curtailed U.S.-China academic collaboration, resulting in fewer publications and patents for U.S.-based scientists, and increased the number of Chinese-born scientists seeking to leave the United States.

Restrictions and guardrails to protect scientific integrity and national security should be applicable to all, not based on ethnicity or national origin. Universities should work in tandem with government agencies to implement rules that are transparent and narrowly tailored to restrict certain types of research.

Mary Gallagher, US Efforts to Limit Chinese Influence in Academia Risk Backfiring, World Politics Review, 26-12-2023