At least 1,400 US-based ethnic Chinese scientists switched their affiliation last year from American to Chinese institutions, according to a joint report by academics from Harvard, Princeton and MIT. Most of the article is about that lady, Chen - but there are a few other stories, as well.
Losing those 1,400 scientists in a year is what used to be called brain drain. Historically, this used to take place in favor of the U.S., not against.
It takes a lot before a person becomes a serious professional or a scientist - you need a bright and highly motivated youngster, willing to put in the effort over many years. You need luck - meaning, everything must go well. You need a very significant investment of money and resources.
By the time those individuals are, as they say, on the roll - they represent great value. To turn them away by the thousand is… bigly counterproductive.
As an illustration, a couple of days ago I saw a photo of Elon Musk in a room, with a crowd of TWTR employees - apparently, people who are staying. The large majority looked like they may be Indian or Chinese.
The point is simple — Jack Dorsey put them to very good use. And so will Musk. My guess is - replacing them would be very hard. |
