The War for Chinese Talent in America, with David Zweig

Sinica Podcast

Kaiser Kuo

Culture, China News, Hangzhou, Chinese, International Relations, Chongqing, Beijing, Sichuan, Currentaffairs, China, Politics, Chengdu, Shanghai, Guangzhou, China Economy, News, China Politics, Business, Film, Shenzhen

4.8 • 676 Ratings

🗓️ 23 February 2025

⏱️ 74 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This week on Sinica, I chat with David Zweig, a veteran China scholar who is Professor Emeritus from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. We discuss Davis'd latest book, The War for Chinese Talent in America, which looks at Chinese efforts to harness the intellectual firepower of Chinese scientists and engineers who studied abroad, especially in the United States, and bring them — or at least their knowledge —back to China. David's book takes a balanced look at both the very real problems generated by Chinese policies as well as the overreaction by the U.S. Department of Justice in the form of the infamous China Initiative.

3:40 – Why got David interested on this particular topic

7:07 – The diaspora option

12:09 – The Thousand Talents Program/Plan

18:28 – How the talent programs operate

23:48 – Motivations for Chinese to participate in the talent programs, how geopolitics now impacts these decisions, and what the effect of the China Initiative has been on collaboration

36:29 – The China Initiative’s climate of fear and the concern for racial profiling

49:40 – The extent of the validity of U.S. security concerns

57:24 – David’s suggestions for balancing national security interests and open scientific exchange

Paying It Forward: Dan Lynch and his book, China’s Futures: PRC Elites Debate Economics, Politics, and Foreign Policy

Recommendations:

David: It’s a Wonderful World — The Louis Armstrong Musical in New York

Kaiser: The Invention of Yesterday: A 50,000-Year History of Human Culture, Conflict, and Connection by Tamim Ansary, especially the audiobook read by the author

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Cynical Podcast, weekly discussion of current affairs in China.
0:13.1	In this program, we'll look at books, ideas, new research, intellectual currents, and cultural trends
0:18.9	that can help us better understand what's happening in China's
0:21.5	politics, foreign relations, economics, and society. Join me each week for in-depth conversations
0:27.6	that shed more light and bring less heat to how we think and talk about China. I'm Kaiser Guo
0:34.3	coming to you from my home in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
0:45.6	Cynica is supported this year by the Center for East Asian Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a National Resource Center for the study of East Asia.
0:54.9	The Cynica podcast will remain free, but if you work for an organization that believes in what I'm doing with the podcast, please consider lending your support.
0:59.5	You can get me at Cinecapod at gmail.com.
1:02.4	And listeners, please support my work at www.com.
1:04.6	com.
1:09.7	Become a subscriber and enjoy, in addition to the podcast, the complete transcript of the show,
1:11.4	essays from me, as well as writings and podcasts from some of your favorite China-focused columnists and commentators
1:16.1	with offerings like the China Global South podcast.
1:19.7	This Week in China's History, The Ultimate China Bookshelf, Sinica Chinese Phrase of the
1:25.0	week, and more.
1:26.5	Make sure to check out the latest series from our friends at Johns Hopkins Seis,
1:30.7	studying China in the absence of access,
1:33.1	which will continue to run on the podcast feed and on the newsletter across the next few months.
1:38.7	There are more goodies from our friends from Seis, which you will see, well, you've probably
1:43.5	already seen.
1:45.3	This week's topic is especially salient in light of the shockwaves that Deep Seek has sent
	...

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