Amid Sino-U.S. new cold war, American scholars decouple from China

Dr Christina Lin
Source Link

Abstract 

After years of disillusionment and distrust between U.S. and China, Washington’s policy towards China has now changed from one of “engagement” to an all-encompassing “decoupling” including cultural and educational exchanges. In this new Cold War, Washington is clamping down on people-to-people exchanges, preventing Chinese students from entering science fields in the U.S., while FBI’s “China Initiative” on economic espionage is casting a wide net across universities to prosecute researchers for their China ties. As many innocent ChineseAmerican scholars are caught in the net, they are removing themselves from the crosshairs and cutting ties to China.

Analysis

On 14 October, Brookings Institution scholars Cheng Li and Ryan McElveen penned an article highlighting the decoupling of people-to-people exchange as the latest casualty in the new cold war between U.S. and China.1 

After years of disputes, disillusionment, disappointment and distrust between the two countries, US policy towards China has now changed from one of “engagement” to an all-encompassing “decoupling” including cultural and educational exchanges.