context: Most students studying in the US have been trapped in China and studied online in the past academic year, and the impact of travel bans is exacerbated by the increasing China–US geopolitical tensions and worries about scientific espionage. Academic exchange is facing great challenges and experts believe China should prepare for increasing China–US academic decoupling.
The prices of flights from China to the US skyrocketed as travel restrictions on overseas students loosened. A vast number of students are going back to campus for in-person teaching but flight numbers are reduced by 97% compared to pre-COVID years. Limited quarantine facilities for crew and airport testing facilities made raising flight numbers difficult.
Presidential Proclamation 10043 issued by Trump in May 2020 has already seen visa applications declined for students studying in specific Chinese universities. The Biden Administration did not loosen the policy, because restricting China’s scitech development is still regarded as a key strategy, says Li Zhengfeng 李正风 Tsinghua University School of Social Sciences. Some Chinese and Chinese–American scholars have been prosecuted for intellectual property theft, making some consider returning and working in China. Li notes this trend has short-term benefits, but will overall reduce the exchange of knowledge and researchers and hinder China’s scitech development.
In the face of potential decoupling, China’s priority should be establishing an independent science education system in research universities and top institutes, says Wang Xiaofan 王小凡 Duke University tenured chair professor and Chinese Academy of Sciences foreign academician. Universities and academic associations should organise international conferences to promote non-governmental academic exchange, and a more favourable environment for scientific research should be built to attract top scientists and researchers from overseas.