As tensions with China rise, scientists at America’s leading universities complain of stalled research after crackdown at airports

Stopped at the border, interrogated on national security grounds, laptops and mobile phones checked, held for several hours, plans for future research shattered. ⠀

Earlier this month the Chinese embassy in Washington said more than 70 students “with legal and valid materials” had been deported from the US since July 2021, with more than 10 cases since November 2023. The embassy said it had complained to the US authorities about each case. ⠀

“The impact is huge,” says Qin Yan, a professor of pathology at Yale School of Medicine in Connecticut, who says that he is aware of more than a dozen Chinese students from Yale and other universities who have been rejected by the US in recent months, despite holding valid visas. Experiments have stalled, and there is a “chilling effect” for the next generation of Chinese scientists. ⠀

The refusals appear to be linked to a 2020 US rule that barred Chinese postgraduate students with links to China’s “military-civil fusion strategy”, which aims to leverage civilian infrastructure to support military development. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute thinktank estimates that 95 civilian universities in China have links to the defence sector.

Nearly 2,000 visas applications were rejected on that basis in 2021. But now people who pass the security checks necessary to be granted a visa by the State Department are being turned away at the border by CBP, a different branch of government.

“It is very hard for a CBP officer to really evaluate the risk of espionage,” said Dan Berger, an immigration lawyer in Massachusetts, who represents a graduate student at Yale who, midway through her PhD, was sent back from Washington’s Dulles airport in December, and banned from re-entering the US for five years. ⠀

Academics say that scrutiny has widened to different fields – particularly medical sciences – with the reasons for the refusals not made clear.

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  • MxM111
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    -187 months ago

    Those drugs wouldn’t be developed in the first place, if there were no IP. The system is not ideal, but I would rather address its issues than destroy everything completely. When hous is on fire, the right thing is put out the fire, not to destroy the town.

      • MxM111
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        -97 months ago

        It is not impossible, but are you seriously want to compare pharmaceutical advancements of Cuba and US? You can even compare USSR and USA at the time. USSR medicine was significantly behind.

        • Match!!
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          147 months ago

          Cuba has 3% of the population of the US. I think it is fair to say they have disproportionately more medical advancement than expected for their population and wealth level.

          • MxM111
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            7 months ago

            I am not sure “advancement per person” is right metric - the more advances the much harder to make those. This is why I was suggesting to compare it to USSR - fair comparison.

          • MxM111
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            17 months ago

            Source? I would like to see how cuban pharmaceuticals are more advanced than that in US. Until you show concrete proof, I will say this is made up statement.

    • The Uncanny Observer
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      227 months ago

      Your comment is pretty ridiculous when you consider that multiple times in history, the scientists who invented vaccines or treatments that saved millions of people put those inventions into the public domain.

      The idea that without capitalism, there is no innovation, is ridiculous. Capitalism is a fairly new idea in history, you’ve just fallen for the propaganda.

      • MxM111
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        -87 months ago

        Sure, some medicine would be developed, not claiming that there would be none. But there would be less. Profit motivation is one hell of a drug (pun not intended). Compare USSR and USA at the time. It is actually incomparable in terms of advancement of drugs and medical devices and even dentistry. What kills is absence of universal insurance, not presence of IP.

    • @Arelin@lemmy.zip
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      127 months ago

      When hous is on fire, the right thing is put out the fire

      The fire is the capitalist laws like IP; the “hous” is a country’s development. So yes, the fire should be put out.

    • @Omega_Haxors@lemmy.ml
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      7 months ago

      and because they’re on an instance without downvotes they’re only going to see the 7 upvotes they did get. It’s 2024 why are people still buying into capitalist realism?? All the guys pushing for it have all moved on to pushing pedo-nazi shit you should be better than this.

      • wildncrazyguy
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        -27 months ago

        If you think all capitalists are nazis then your ideology has blinded you.

        • @Omega_Haxors@lemmy.ml
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          7 months ago

          People pushing for capitalist realism absolutely are, and usually the nazism comes secondary to the pedophilia with those types.

          Also, relevant meme:

          • wildncrazyguy
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            07 months ago

            Never said communism is bad, friend, just that it’s not a good idea to be consumed by any ideological framework - that’s how you become a zealot or worse, an enabler to someone who corrupts the cause.

              • wildncrazyguy
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                17 months ago

                Wow, you sure got me there with your sick memes and short blasts. You can see the ills of the world cowering by the appearance of your civil discourse.

                  • wildncrazyguy
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                    17 months ago

                    So much like a zoo monkey, you exist for the fascination of others, and the occasional casting of feces their way? I see. I’ll continue to view you from the cage you’ve made for yourself then, while keeping some distance.

    • @hglman@lemmy.ml
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      57 months ago

      People hate saving others, you really have to give them so many incentives to care. /S