In the mid-1990s, China continued to lose its highly educated researchers and scholars as they left the country to work abroad. So in 2001, Chinese leader Jiang Zemin tried something new: he encouraged PRC-born Chinese abroad to help their country without having to return home — by transferring knowledge back to China.

But in 2018, the Trump administration aimed to block China’s access to such knowledge, and it investigated hundreds of Chinese researchers living and working in the U.S.  

Did China’s strategy work? And was the U.S. crackdown worth the negative impact it had on scientific collaboration? Noted China scholar David S. Zweig will answer these questions and more in a fascinating presentation that is sure to interest scholars, scientists, and community members alike.

Speaker:

David Zweig received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1983. He is Professor Emeritus at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Distinguished Visiting Professor at National Tsinghua University in Taiwan, and the vice president of the Center for China and Globalization in Beijing. Over 40,000 students have taken his online courses on Coursera.

He has authored or edited ten books, including “Internationalizing China” and “China’s Brain Drain to the U.S.” His new book, “The War for Chinese Talent in America” (published by the Association of Asian Studies), examines the politics of technology and knowledge in Sino-U.S. relations.

Moderator:

Kwai Ng is a renowned expert on the judiciary in China and Hong Kong. His research interests include the sociology of law, legal language and social theory. He has conducted field research on the grassroots courts in China and the bilingual courtrooms in Hong Kong. His book projects have examined language and law in postcolonial Hong Kong and judicial decision-making in China, and his publications have examined legal issues in China and Hong Kong from a variety of perspectives. His most recent book examines the many factors influencing decision-making in Chinese courts, furthering our understanding of courts in authoritarian settings. Ng is a member of China Data Lab, where he leads a project on divorce and law in China.

This public lecture series is organized by the 21st Century China Center at the UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy (GPS). For more information on China-related events, please visit china.ucsd.edu.

If you have any questions, please contact GPS Events Coordinator Susan Zau.