An American Nobel laureate has accused the US government of hindering scientific collaboration with China while praising Hong Kong and the mainland for their “tremendous respect” for science and academia.
Randy Schekman, who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2013, also praised Hong Kong’s openness and “free spirit” compared with the mainland, while urging both regions to foster more creativity among youth.
He made the remarks at a press briefing ahead of his keynote address at the Future Science Prize Week’s annual conference for the Asian Young Scientist Fellowship in Hong Kong on Thursday.
The fellowship recognises young scientists from across the region for their outstanding achievements and encourages private-sector funding to support regional research.
Asked about the state of scientific cooperation between the US and China amid geopolitical tensions, Schekman described it as a “very, very bad time”.
“There’s no reason that there should be any interruption in communication about basic science. This is not rocket science. This is not cybersecurity,” he said.
Schekman, who teaches at the University of California, Berkeley, and is a frequent visitor to Hong Kong, said many of his colleagues were hesitant to engage with Chinese researchers.
“Frankly, I blame the current US administration for creating this atmosphere,” he said.
Schekman does not rely on government funding for his research.
Last year, Beijing and the outgoing administration of then-US President Joe Biden renewed a science and technology agreement that for decades had provided a legal and political framework for researchers from both countries to secure funding and pursue joint projects.
But relations between the two superpowers have been in a tailspin, particularly under the current administration of US President Donald Trump, which has also enacted funding cuts and freezes in the United States that have unsettled the research community.
A US House spending bill earlier this year also proposed measures resembling the controversial “China Initiative” launched in Trump’s first term.
That programme was criticised for unfairly targeting Chinese-American researchers and derailing careers before its termination in 2022.
Schekman described the US as having entered a “dark age” in its appreciation for intellectuals and the sciences, especially when it came to public health measures.
“The atmosphere here in China is completely different,” he said. “There’s tremendous respect for scholarship and for science here, which I greatly enjoy, and I wish it were so in the US.”
Schekman shared the Nobel Prize in 2013 for his role in discovering the inner machinery that regulates the transport of proteins in human cells. The research led directly to the success of the biotech industry and advances in treating diseases such as diabetes and hepatitis B.
The Nobel laureate said he frequently visited Hong Kong, noting that two of his former postdoctoral fellows now served as faculty members at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
Hong Kong’s openness and “free spirit” made it particularly attractive compared to other parts of China, he added, noting that he did not need to use a VPN to access his email unlike on the mainland, where the internet was restricted by the so-called “Great Firewall”.
During his keynote address at the University of Hong Kong on Thursday, Schekman spoke of his own humble upbringing and success, while praising the US education system for allowing young people to “explore their individual creative instincts”.
Earlier, during his session with the press, Schekman hailed the “enormous investment” China was making into basic science, but said the education system was “too rigid” by comparison.
Both Hong Kong and the mainland have high-stakes university entrance exams – known as the Diploma of Secondary Education examination and gaokao, respectively – which critics say place considerable mental stress on students.
“The curriculum is so packed, students have no time to do any of their own exploration,” Schekman said. “I think relying on that [kind of] test to determine someone’s future is a mistake.” -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
