Although there is not much time, the Trump administration still has not forgotten to dig holes in Sino-US relations, and it also wants to involve the incoming Biden administration.
According to a Reuters report on November 3, John Demers, the head of the National Security Department of the US Department of Justice, said when attending a discussion at the Aspen Institute, a think tank, that in their so-called “fighting against technology theft” With hard work, more than 1,000 Chinese researchers have left the United States. Another official claimed that there are still some “Chinese agents” eyeing Biden’s team.
As early as September of this year, the U.S. State Department revoked the visas of more than 1,000 Chinese citizens on the grounds of so-called “national security.” The reasons given by the U.S. at that time were quite similar to what Demers said this time: People steal or otherwise misappropriate sensitive research results.”
But an official from the US Department of Justice stated that the more than 1,000 Chinese researchers that Demers said this time are not the same group as the group mentioned by the US State Department in September. The United States claimed that the new group of people had connections with the Chinese military, but they have “escaped from the United States” after the FBI entered more than 20 US cities and the US State Department closed the Chinese Consulate in Houston.
Demerst emphasized that “only China has the resources, ability and willingness” as an overseas force to implement such a wide range of activities.
William Evanina, director of the National Center for Counterintelligence and Security, also spoke in this discussion. He threatened to say that “Chinese agents” had already put the incoming Biden government team and the Biden team As a target. However, he did not disclose more information on this, only claiming that the Chinese researchers under censorship in the United States “all came here under the order of the Chinese government.”
Reuters pointed out that during Trump’s tenure, Sino-US relations have deteriorated to the worst level in decades, involving trade, technology, Hong Kong issues, and the new crown virus.
Chinese students and scholars studying in the United States have been the focus of the Trump administration’s efforts in recent years. According to data from the US State Department, from April to September this year, the United States issued 808 F-1 student visas to students from mainland China, a drop of 99% from the 90,410 in the same period last year. On the one hand, this is related to the severe epidemic in the United States. On the other hand, the Trump administration is also constantly attacking Chinese students, including imposing visa restrictions and stigmatizing Chinese students for “espionage”.
However, people of insight in the United States are worried about the expulsion of Chinese students and researchers. Eric Schmidt, chairman of the US National Artificial Intelligence Security Council and former Google CEO, once said: “We rely on Chinese researchers and Chinese graduates. Separation from China in personnel matters will harm the United States. ”
He also specifically reminded: “If you exclude these people from our research chain, it will harm the United States, because they are very powerful and very helpful. If you give them visas, many people will stay in the United States. ”
Michael Brown, director of the Innovation Experiment Group of the U.S. Department of Defense, also said: “25% of the graduates studying science and engineering in the United States are Chinese citizens. Immigration is very important to Silicon Valley, Highway 128 and other innovation bases. We need To ensure that we can attract top talent from around the world and strive to retain as many students as possible.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China has made solemn statements on many occasions regarding the continuous discredit of Chinese students and researchers by the United States. Spokesperson Hua Chunying once pointed out that the US continues to accuse China of theft of intellectual property, but it has never produced strong evidence.