But with federal support for scientific research now unpredictable in the United States, and as Europe increasingly invests in its military defense (possibly at the expense of basic science), a brain drain to China may be possible in the coming years.
Hugo Darras is a French scientist who recently joined Zhejiang University from the University of Mainz in Germany, where he was a junior group leader studying evolutionary genomics in insects. He says that one draw for him was the Chinese students. “In Europe, it has become very difficult to find students that are motivated to do research,” Darras says. “The students that have a passion for their projects are very difficult to find, and that’s very frustrating.” In contrast, he’s found that in China, the students are enthusiastic and work extremely hard.
Siegfried Roth, a German researcher studying the evolution and development of insects at the University of Cologne, recently retired at age 67 due to Germany’s strict retirement rules. But he still had research questions he wanted to answer. “At the end of your career, you are very rarely in the position that you have solved all the questions which were on your heart and which you wanted to finish,” he says. The opportunity to do research in China offered a chance to pursue “some of the questions I had — even some of the bigger ones, which we got close to answering but couldn’t.”
Those were my thoughts, too. Until China starts some serious human’s rights reforms, it would be hard to see any intellectuals wanting to go there after having grown up and worked in largely democratic societies. No one with a brain geared toward questioning the status quo or the norm would feel comfortable in a regime under the CCP.
In addition to their form of government, there is the everyday living experience to consider. China is modern and clean in some places but culturally, what is it like being an American professional in China? I actually don’t know because I don’t know anyone who’s actually done it. Japan, Thailand, Singapore, UK, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Canada, all yes, several times over. China? Not one. Why is that?
thier main cities of economy, beijing, shenzou i think are probably where one would live.
Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Shenzen also come to mind