Michael Peel and Eleanor Olcott of the Financial Times report that the Deng-Carter pact for science and technology cooperation risks unraveling. The pact provides an ‘umbrella of permissions” and is due for renewal later this month as tensions between China and the U.S. continue to erode. They write:
Rising tensions between the US and China threaten to sever a 45-year-old science and technology pact due for renewal later this month, hindering the superpowers’ collaboration in critical areas.
Researchers are attempting to work round the strained inter-governmental relationship, with some focusing on less contentious possible areas of co-operation, such as climate change and diseases related to ageing.
The struggle to strike a comprehensive multiyear extension to the science and technology accord is a sign of how political problems can undermine frontier research work. The bilateral agreement, signed by US president Jimmy Carter and Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, has underpinned work in fields including energy, agriculture, civil-industrial technology and disaster management.
Disagreements have grown over US restrictions on China’s access to semiconductors and Washington’s worries about alleged intellectual property breaches and the potential military use of sensitive new technologies. US security officials are also concerned about the potential for academic co-operation to provide avenues for Chinese espionage. […]
The pact provides an “umbrella of permissions”, said Turekian, who was the science and technology adviser to former US secretary of state John Kerry. Other scientists point to valuable past research collaborations in areas including influenza monitoring, pollution control and reducing birth defects by boosting the folic acid consumption of mothers-to-be. […]
“We do support a long-term extension of the agreement,” Montgomery said, although she acknowledged the difficulties. “Things have changed over time and so there are real issues to think about — [such as] data reciprocity and transparency.”
Wang said the pact’s cancellation would have a chilling effect not only on joint research projects, but also on the willingness of US universities to approve invitations to US academics for conferences or seminars.
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