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Sherry Chen, Yan Ning and 1,500 Chinese scholars left to go back to China in 2021

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Last week, Sherry Chen settled a landmark case against the U. S. Dept of Commerce that is momentous to many Americans of Chinese Heritage. The $1.8 million the U.S. government agreed to pay her after a long battle against false accusations that she was a Chinese spy marks “a win for all Asian Americans”, she said during a private celebration event in Silicon Valley over the weekend. There are several great articles written about Sherry’s victory on Asia Times (George Koo) and San Francisco Reporter Han Li.

While Chinese and Asian Americans are celebrating the overdue justice treatment of Sherry, the Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF) noted that the China Initiative “caused panic and an exodus of senior academic researchers of Chinese descent in the US”. In 2021, 1,500 Chinese scholars who were educated in the United States left to go back to China, according to this report. The total, based on an analysis of author affiliations in academic journal papers, included both early-career scientists and tenured professors. Since the China Initiative started in 2018, the number of academics moving to China increased by 40%, the report noted.

Acclaimed scientist, structural biologist Yan Ning became the latest prominent addition to a growing list of Chinese scientists returning to China when she announced on Nov 1, 2022 that she would resign from her tenured professorship at Princeton University and return to China to help build the Shenzhen Medical Academy of Research and Translation. Her announcement spread like wildfire on Chinese social media, attracting over 480 million views on the Chinese microblogging platform Sina Weibo. Many netizens called her a “goddess scientist” and wished her success in her new job.

While China has well thought out plans to advance its science and technologies, our country is bogged down with inefficient, contradictory and ill-thought out tactics to thwart China’s technology progress much akin to Tonya Harding tactic on fellow figure skate competitor Nancy Kerrigan.

The way to America’s science and technology prowess is not trying to ruin your competitor’s kneecap but to work your asses off to really compete. And, oh don’t try to drive away the best and brightest from around the world. All Of Us Belong Right Here!

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