Pact shows importance of Sino-US cooperation

The signing of a protocol by China and the United States recently to amend and extend the US-China Science and Technology Agreement is a crucial development given the fraught geopolitical relationship between the world's two largest economies. As tensions between the US and China continue to rise on various fronts, including trade and security, the signing of the agreement is a rare example of continued cooperation between the two sides.

The signing was a symbolic gesture but an acknowledgment of the importance of mutual collaboration, especially when it comes to addressing shared global challenges such as climate change and public health.

The imminent extension of the STA shows that despite the rising tensions, both countries recognize the need for scientific collaboration. Originally signed in 1979 by former US president Jimmy Carter and former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, the agreement coincided with the resumption of academic exchanges between the two countries. Following the signing of a 1978 memorandum of understanding on student and scholar exchanges — the first official agreement between the two governments — 52 Chinese students departed from Beijing to the US, with American students arriving in China two months later.

It's important to reflect on this aspect of Sino-US relations because the number of Chinese students in the US has declined for the fifth consecutive academic year. According to the Open Doors Report, published by the Institute of International Education in partnership with the US Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the number of Chinese students had fallen from 372,532 in 2019-20 to 277,398 in 2023-24.

In contrast, the number of Indian students in the US has increased. Indian students have become the largest group of international students in the US, with nearly 72 percent growth over the same period. This shift underscores both broader changes in international education dynamics and the chilling effect of political tensions on Sino-US academic exchanges.

Remarks such as those made by former secretary of state Mike Pompeo in 2020, in which he alleged that many Chinese students aim to "steal intellectual property", have fueled suspicion and contributed to the US' restrictive policies. Visa tightening and entry bans for Chinese researchers in high-tech fields have further strained academic exchanges, unraveling a web of collaboration carefully woven over nearly half a century by generations of scholars and students. Although Pompeo is unlikely to be part of the incoming Trump administration, his accusations — reflecting a broader group sentiment — will continue to cast a long shadow on Sino-US relations.

The careers of the "Beijing Eight" — the first group of American students to enroll in Chinese universities in February 1979 — exemplify the profound impact of early academic exchanges. Figures such as Madelyn Ross, president of the US-China Education Trust; Frank Hawke, former China director of Stanford University Graduate School of Business; and Stephen Allee, curator of Chinese art at the Smithsonian Institution, highlight the importance of these programs in shaping future leaders and fostering international collaboration.

As US political scientist David Lampton said in his 1986 study, A Relationship Restored, early academic exchanges between China and the US were government-led, but by 1980, private US universities and intercollegiate programs had taken the lead, recognizing their great potential and mutual benefit. In recent years, US universities have increasingly found themselves at odds with the White House over policies impacting their China-related programs.

For example, in 2020, Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology successfully challenged the in-person course requirement for international students, highlighting the growing tension between universities' commitment to the free flow of knowledge and the US administration's restrictive measures — policies that ultimately harm both China and the US.

National security is the US administration's most frequently cited reason for discouraging academic exchanges with China. But after the Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik in 1957 created fears in Washington that the US lagged behind the Soviet Union in science and technology fields, US Congress passed the National Defense Education Act in 1958, which funded educational initiatives, including the National Defense Foreign Language Fellowship. The program specifically aimed to enhance US expertise in the languages and cultures of "enemy countries", particularly the Soviet Union and China, recognizing the strategic value of such academic engagement.

In an interview with China Daily, Lampton acknowledged that the US' involvement in the Korean and Vietnam wars stemmed partly from a lack of understanding of China and broader Asia during the Cold War. Hawke, the son of a self-described "cold warrior", views his opportunity to study in China as "an outcome of the evolution of that view of China as the adversary".

Today, observers are increasingly referencing a "Cold War II", particularly as the US ramps up legislative measures against China. In September, Congress passed 25 anti-China laws in a single week, including one withholding funding from universities hosting Confucius Institutes. That this measure was uncalled for can be understood from the fact that federal funding for such schools had already been restricted in 2018, leading to the closure of nearly all Confucius Institutes since then.

As Henry Kissinger warned in his 2011 book On China, a US-China "Cold War" would halt the progress of a generation on both sides of the Pacific. To prevent such a scenario, academic exchanges need to be strengthened.

In an era where global challenges such as climate change, pandemics and technological advancements demand international cooperation, preventing the world's two largest economies from intellectual collaboration is not only shortsighted, but also harmful to global progress.

Diplomacy, after all, begins in classrooms, lecture halls and research labs — places where future leaders learn to see the world through each other's eyes. It is a bridge worth preserving.

The author is a journalist with China Daily.