RUNDOWN:
5:45 pm               Registration
6:00 pm               Opening Remarks
6:05 pm               Presentation
6:15 pm               Fireside Chat
6:45 pm               Q&A
7:05 pm               Closing Remarks
7:10 pm               Book Signing
7:20 pm               End

ASHK Members Ticket: HKD 60
Non-Member Ticket: HKD 80

Asia Society Hong Kong Center (ASHK) is pleased to present a presentation and dialogue with David Zweig, Professor Emeritus of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, on his latest book, The War for Chinese Talent in America, in conversation with Ying Chan, ASHK Scholar-in-Residence and Professor at the University of Hong Kong.

U.S. universities and research institutions have attracted highly talented Chinese students to work and study in America for decades. Despite China’s efforts to entice them to bring their technological know-how back to China, many have chosen to stay in America. In recent years, however, as the Sino-U.S. relationship has become increasingly contentious, Chinese scientists and academics have faced increasing scrutiny and even investigation by U.S. authorities, while China continues to aggressively work to bring these talented individuals home. What have the U.S. and China gained from the participation of Chinese talent in the U.S., and what is each country losing through this current tug-of-war over tech talent? Join ASHK to hear from Professor Zweig and learn more. 

David Zweig (Ph.D., The University of Michigan, 1983) is Professor Emeritus, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Distinguished Visiting Professor of Taipei School of Economics and Political Science, National Tsinghua University, Taiwan, and Vice-President of the Center for China and Globalization (Beijing). He was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard in 1984-85, and in 2013-2015 received the Humanities and Social Sciences Prestigious Fellowship, Research Grants Council of Hong Kong. For 15 years, he directed the Center on China’s Transnational Relations at HKUST. Over 40,000 students have signed up for his two courses on Chinese politics and China and the world, both on Coursera.

Ying Chan is an award-winning Journalist, media consultant, and educator. She was a professor and founding director of The University of Hong Kong’s Journalism and Media Studies Centre from 1998 to 2016. Prior to that, she spent 23 years in New York City with the New York Daily News, NBC news, and Chinese-language dailies, covering immigration, campaign finance, and US-China relations. She is co-founder of the Environmental Reporting Collective, a global network of journalists in Asia and Africa, and is on the board of management of Digital Asia Hub.

About The War for Chinese Talent in America:

To overcome their “brain drain,” some developing countries employ the “Diaspora Option,” encouraging their overseas nationals to use the knowledge they gained abroad to help their motherland. Since the mid-1990s, China’s party/state has vigorously used an extensive array of programs and incentives to persuade ethnic Chinese living in America to transfer their technological know-how back home. Many Chinese working abroad facilitated this flow, some to strengthen their former homeland, others from self-interest. In 2018, the Trump Administration declared war on these efforts. Employing a McCarthy-like campaign called the “China Initiative,” the government investigated Chinese scientists across the U.S. Many individuals were arrested, only to have their cases dropped. Still, hundreds had their research disrupted or lost their jobs. This book documents China’s ‘no-holds-barred’ effort to access U.S. technology and America’s vigorous counterattack and its efforts to disrupt the transfer of U.S. technology to China. Six case studies include stories of unknown victims of that campaign whose cases were never made public. It highlights how the war has undermined Sino-American scientific collaboration and triggered the outflow of some top Chinese talent from America and back to China.

Buy a copy of The War for Chinese Talent in America from our store.

The views and opinions expressed are those of the speakers and participants and, unless expressly stated to the contrary, do not reflect the opinion, position or official policy of Asia Society Hong Kong, its members, or its committees. Asia Society Hong Kong does not endorse or approve and assumes no responsibility for the content of the information presented.