Will a 'wall' on STEM make America great again?

"The science should be boundary-less," said Jeremy Berg, editor-in-chief of Science, during the ceremony of , one of the oldest sci-tech awards in the U.S. after Pan Jianwei, a CHINESE physicist who led his group to win this prize, failed to attend the meeting due to a visa delay in February.

Pan's case is not an exception though, as the same problem also troubles the CHINESE students studying in the U.S. now.

An open letter published by the CHINESE Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) of several renowned U.S. universities earlier revealed that some CHINESE students failed to return to the U.S. due to the protracted and opaque "administrative processing," a further investigation to see whether one is entering the U.S. legally.

A post published on the Wechat account of the CSSA of UIUC further indicates that most students being "investigated" are from the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), especially those of the mechanical engineering, physics, AI, etc.

screenshot of the open letter published by the CHINESE Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) of several renowned U.S. universities

Trump's administration is tightening its students' visas and specifically targeting CHINESE students. According to Reuters, back in June 2018, the U.S. State Department started to cut the length of visas for CHINESE students in "specific" fields to "curb" the risk of spying and theft of intellectual property.

But are CHINESE students or experts real "threats"?

CHINESE Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying' s response to Mike Pompeo's accusation of China espionage threat could be the best answer: "There is a CHINESE saying, one's mentality will determine how they see the world. It doesn't surprise me in the slightest that such remarks were made by a person who heads the world's largest intelligence agency. Besides, let's not forget that facts speak louder than words."

Pedestrians in Harvard Yard at a Harvard University building, August 30, 2018, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. /‍VCG Photo

Concerns over national security asides, some western media indicated that Trump intended to secure its global technology dominance by building a "wall" separating itself and the world.

But will it work?

According to Zhu Zheng, an assistant professor at the China University of Political Science and Law, "closing the door" may help the U.S. maintain its dominance in a short term, but in the long run, it will harm not only the tech development in the U.S., but also the world.

An article published in the Washington Post last year indicates that tech giants disagree with Trump's decision to "limit access to talent" saying that it will bring a negative impact to their own business.

Dean Garfield, chief executive of the Information Technology Industry Council stated that the high-tech comPanies like Google, Facebook, Apple, etc., rely on skilled foreign laborers to produce new items because of a shortage of local workforce with specialized skills.

Mehul Patel, chief executive of Hired, a San Francisco comPany, echoed his idea. He said in an email that recruiting foreign talented workers has always been a headache for the tech community in the U.S. because it is hard and desperately needed. He also stressed that the loss of CHINESE talents will damage the U.S.' ability to maintain its dominance in the global tech development.

The collision of different thoughts, religions, ethics, cultures is the driving force of innovation. And innovation is what leads the future development of technology. If the U.S., the center of high-tech development where most talents are gathering, "block" this communication, it might be what Garfield suggested, "against the national interest."

Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti (L) joins a rescue training mission in Yantai, Shandong Province, China, August 2017. /Xinhua Photo

Zhu also suggested such a move may hurt the U.S.' education industry and damage its business reputation in the international community.

The education industry in the U.S. plays an important role in its economy. According to a report by GSV Capital, in 2015 education account for 9 percent of the entire U.S economy. The report also predicts that the number will increase to 12 percent in the year of 2025.

CHINESE students occupy a significant portion of international students in the U.S., accounted for roughly 33 percent. According to Xinhua News Agency, in 2018, there are more than 360,000 CHINESE students studying in the U.S. with an annual increase of 3.6 percent.

An article published on Foreign Policy said that back in the 50s, Qian Xuesen,"a bright star in the galaxy of scientists who were helping to make the United States into the world's foremost military power," was deported by the U.S. as the result of political paranoia. The article further questioned whether the same will happen to the new generation of CHINESE talents.

We don't know the answer yet, but we hope it would be "no."

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at opinions@cgtn.com.)