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Proposed US rule barring China science collaboration sparks outcry from US scientists_我的网站
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The proposed Office of Management and Budget (OMB) rule, set to take effect in December, would mark one of the biggest overhauls of US science funding in decades, giving political appointees greater authority over grant awards previously guided by scientific peer review and requiring that they "advance the President's policy priorities," according to the Washington Post.
It would also effectively expand the 2011 Wolf Amendment, which bars scientists from using NASA funding for bilateral collaborations with China, to all federal agencies and scientists receiving federal funds, marking the largest break in US-China scientific engagement in decades, the US media outlet reported.
So far, the proposed rule has garnered nearly half a million public comments, many from scientists and leading US science bodies. A Washington Post analysis of 50,000 of those comments found that around 88 percent were negative.
The rule, initially set to take effect in October, was pushed back to December after a bipartisan stopgap funding bill temporarily halted its adoption. Unlike the Wolf Amendment, the rule does not require congressional approval to take effect.
"I do think there are still members of Congress who think we have a monopoly on knowledge. They think we're still in the Cold War Soviet era ... where we were ahead in most areas of science and technology. That is not the case with China. We are no longer the leader in many areas of science," said Tobin Smith, senior vice president for government relations and public policy at the Association for American Universities, which advocates on behalf of leading US research universities, per the Washington Post.
Scientists warn that the rule risks subjecting long-term scientific research to four-year political cycles. "We will not succeed if with every new administration we are ping-ponging back and forth about priorities," the American Association for the Advancement of Science said in a blistering comment, urging the administration to withdraw the rule. "Fast-tracking such profound changes ... hands an easy victory to nations like China," it said, the Washington Post reported.
This reflects a fundamental divide between the US government and the scientific community over how science should develop, Wang Yiwei, a professor at Renmin University of China's School of International Studies, told the Global Times. He noted that politicians tend to believe that suppressing China as a competitor would allow the US to preserve its market dominance and technological edge.
Scientists, however, tend to follow a different logic, as scientific progress depends on openness, exchanges and collaboration. If science and technology are driven solely by competition and private capital, with the ultimate goal of maintaining technological monopolies, this could create greater risks and ultimately undermine US interests as well, Wang said.
The proposed rule change is the latest salvo in a broader battle in Washington over how to respond to China's rise as a scientific superpower. In July, the US National Science Foundation (NSF) also moved to ban collaborations between scientist it funds and many Chinese research institutions and their employees, according to Science magazine.
Liu Shaoshan, director of the Center for Embodied AI at the Shenzhen Institute of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics for Society and a former US-based researcher, told the Global Times in a previous interview that the NSF's new proposed rules created a "talent wall," arguing that restrictions based on nationality, institutional affiliation, and research partnerships could reduce the global talent pool available to the US, weaken its ability to attract leading scientists, and slow scientific innovation.
Liu also said scientific advancement relies not only on discovery but also on the exchange, validation, and dissemination of knowledge.
Wang also said China has built significant strengths through its vast pool of scientists and engineers, complete industrial chains and massive application scenarios, while increasingly moving from application-oriented innovation toward original research. Against this backdrop, US technological blockades and restrictions on cooperation are unlikely to halt China's progress, but could instead isolate American scientists from China's latest research and collaboration opportunities. Such an approach could also prevent the two countries from leveraging their respective strengths and ultimately undermine US competitiveness, Wang said.
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Zhou Jiang, a researcher at the Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences, has a favorite book: White Deer Tableland or Bai Lu Yuan by renowned writer Chen Zhongshi.
As vice president of the Regional Science Association of China (RSAC), Zhou told the Global Times that a lifetime of reading has profoundly shaped the way he sees and understands the world. It ultimately led him to a career in research and academia, where he teaches and pursues scholarly work.
Since earning his PhD in economics in 2000, he has devoted himself to the study of regional science and economics, a field that demands a constant crossing of disciplinary boundaries, drawing on the fields of geography, sociology, history, and ecology among others.
"Reading has kept alive my sense of curiosity and taught me to ask questions with patience and persistence: Where do disparities in regional development come from? How do policies affect different groups in society? And how can a region pursue both efficiency and equity so that development is not merely effective, but also imbued with a greater sense of humanity and warmth?" Zhou noted.
Founded in 1991, RSAC is a national academic society dedicated to advancing domestic and international academic exchange and cooperation, providing consulting services on spatial planning, urbanization, and regional development, and offering intellectual support for China's modernization drive.
The 57-year-old researcher noted that reading has empowered him in two distinct ways.
"The first is discernment. When confronted with a complex issue, I try not to settle for a simple conclusion. Instead, I make an effort to understand its broader context, how it has unfolded, and the perspectives of the different people involved," he said.
"The second is a sense of inner steadiness. Setbacks are an inevitable part of both life and work. Good books remind us that hardship is never ours alone to bear; countless people before us have faced circumstances more difficult than our own, made difficult choices, and found the strength to carry on. Reading cannot solve every problem for us, but it can help us remain calm when challenges arise, giving us the clarity and resilience that allow us not to panic or give up too easily," he said.
Historical depth
Each time Zhou returns to the White Deer Tableland, he finds something different in its pages.
"When I first read it as a young person, I was drawn primarily to the characters and the twists and turns of their lives. Later, as I began researching regional economics, I found myself paying closer attention to the changes in the land, the countryside, families and social order presented in the story. Now, approaching 60, I have come to appreciate more deeply the choices the characters make, the constraints they face, and the quiet perseverance they show amid the sweeping currents of their times," he said.
White Deer Tableland uses Bai Lu village in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province as a microcosm, tracing the feuds and intertwined fortunes of three generations of the Bai (literally meaning white) and Lu families. Through their stories, it captures more than half a century of sweeping historical change, from the final years of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) to the 1970s and 1980s. The novel won the Mao Dun Literature Prize, one of China's top literature awards, in 1997.
Zhou prefers literary works with historical depth and a keen eye for social change.
Regional economics may appear to be concerned with the spatial distribution of industries, population and resources, but at its heart, it is about how people live on a particular piece of land, and why some places flourish while others decline, he noted.
In this sense, literature and history are more than pastimes beyond professional research. They often help him understand the historical context, cultural traditions and social mentality that lie behind economic data, he said.
When reading novels, Zhou said that he often pays close attention to the relationship between people and the places they inhabit: How the land shapes the local character, how transportation transforms a region, and how shifts in industry reshape families and villages. Such details may not offer a direct conclusion, but they broaden a researcher's perspective. They also serve as a reminder that research should look beyond growth rates and statistical indicators to consider the sense of fulfillment experienced by ordinary people and the dignity of human beings.
Understanding ourselves
Once, while tidying his study, he came across a book filled with notes he had scribbled in his early years. Among them was a question that particularly caught his attention: "In the face of sweeping changes in the times and profound social transformation, what can a person truly determine for himself?"
Looking at those words he had written in his youth was like coming face to face with the person he had been decades ago.
Reading is not simply the act of understanding a book; it is also a record of a person's own growth, he said. The same book can reveal something entirely different when read at different stages of life.
When we are young, we turn to books in search of answers; but when we become seasoned, we read more to understand life, to understand others, and ultimately, to better understand ourselves, Zhou said.
In this era of fragmented information, AI can help people access information quickly, organize materials, and gain a basic understanding of unfamiliar fields. Yet deep reading, Zhou said, allows people to see how a conclusion is reached — what evidence supports it, where its boundaries lie, and what alternative interpretations it may invite.
What truly shapes a person, after all, is not how much information they have browsed, but the words that have made them pause and reflect - and the words that have remained with them for many years, he added.
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