By Chuck George
Chairman, Youngstown State University Board of Trustees
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The global competition between the United States and China extends well beyond tariffs, military strength and access to advanced technology. It also involves a resource that is harder to measure but maybe even more important: the ability to attract and retain talented people.
For decades, our higher education gave America an enormous advantage in that competition.
Universities here drew promising students and researchers from across the world. Many arrived for graduate school or research positions; then, remained to teach, conduct scientific work, establish companies and develop new technologies. The United States benefited not only from the people who came here to be educated, but also from talented people educated elsewhere who chose to continue their careers here.
That system made American universities more productive and helped advance our country’s leadership in science and technology.
China has spent decades trying to close that gap, and they are making significant progress.
Beginning in the late 1970s, China expanded opportunities for its students to study overseas as part of a broader effort to improve its scientific capabilities. The United States became a major destination, and within a decade the number of Chinese students enrolled here increased tenfold.
The flow of talent made sense for individual students, but it also reflected a weakness in China’s academic system. Its universities and research facilities could not provide the same opportunities available at leading American institutions.
That has changed considerably, and the change should be a wakeup call to American leaders.
China has made significant investments in universities, laboratories and scientific programs, while using funding and other incentives to encourage researchers to return. At the same time, changes in the United States have created new and concerning questions that are making it increasingly difficult for foreign scientists and students seeking to make American institutions their first choice for education.
Concerns in the United States about national security is one reason for the change.
In 2018, during President Donald Trump’s first administration, the Justice Department launched the China Initiative to address economic espionage and intellectual property theft. More than 100 scientists and other people of Chinese descent became targets of the initiative before the department discontinued its efforts in 2022.
The United States has every right – and responsibility – to protect sensitive research. And universities play a critical role in identifying and rooting out potential espionage, intellectual property theft and other legitimate national security concerns.
But how security policies are implemented also have consequences, especially when they create uncertainty for leading researchers from around the world who otherwise would study and work here.
Research by scholars at Princeton, Harvard and MIT found that nearly 20,000 scientists of Chinese descent left the United States between 2010 and 2021, and Chinese institutions are now benefiting directly from that movement. At Westlake University in Hangzhou, China, studies have shown that approximately 100 laboratories have been established by researchers returning from abroad, and an estimated 80% of those researchers came from the United States.
That represents more than simply a change in where people live and work. When an accomplished scientist leaves an American institution, years of education, experience, professional relationships and research expertise leave with them.
Federal research policy adds another concern.
American lawmakers have reduced support for federal and university-based scientific research. China is moving in the other direction, increasing government spending on science and technology by another 10%.
The results of China’s long-term investments are becoming increasingly difficult to dismiss. China now leads the United States and the European Union in highly cited scientific research, and Chinese biotechnology companies account for nearly one-third of new drug candidates worldwide.
The United States, therefore, faces a contradiction in its approach to China.
In an era of epic global competition for superpower dominance, Washington legitimately wants to limit China’s access to technologies that could strengthen its economic and strategic position. Yet Washington’s reduced research support and greater barriers in attracting international scholars to come here can encourage talented people to take their work elsewhere. China has spent considerable resources creating institutions ready to receive them.
Visa policy is another very important factor.
Certainly, international students should undergo appropriate screening, especially when their work involves sensitive technologies. But policymakers should distinguish between targeted security measures and policies that broadly discourage international students and scholars from choosing American universities.
Higher education has been successful in the United States partly because American institutions compete for talent globally. Our country does not have to depend exclusively on scientists born within our borders. We can recruit promising researchers from nearly anywhere.
That ability for American universities to attract the best of the best minds globally should be treated as a national asset.
And the benefits extend well beyond academia. Advanced research conducted at American universities can eventually produce medical treatments, new companies, manufacturing technologies and entirely new industries. Scientific discoveries made today may not generate economic benefits for years or even decades, which is precisely why sustained investment in the academic and research ecosystem matters.
China recognizes the relationship between universities and global competitiveness. The United States should as well.
The good news is that America still holds substantial advantages. Our universities remain the world’s strongest. Our research institutions, technology companies and scientific workforce remain formidable. Just as important, generations of students have viewed the United States as a place where talented people can pursue an education and build a career.
There is no reason to surrender that position unnecessarily.
China does not have to surpass the United States in every scientific field to improve its competitive position. It benefits whenever an accomplished researcher chooses a Chinese laboratory over an American one, whenever a promising international student decides there is too much uncertainty in obtaining a visa to study in America, or whenever a research program loses funding while a competing program abroad receives additional support.
Protecting American research and welcoming global international academic talent are not mutually exclusive goals. Our government can investigate espionage, safeguard sensitive technologies and impose restrictions where genuine security concerns exist without making the broader academic system inhospitable to talented people from around the world that our country would benefit from attracting and keeping.
American policymakers should view international student visas and federal funding for important university-based research as part of our nation’s economic and national security strategy rather than isolated education issues.
For generations, America held an advantage because exceptionally talented people from around the world chose to come here to learn, conduct research and build their careers. China is investing heavily in reducing that advantage.
American policymakers should not make China’s task easier.
