The science and technology agreement between the United States and the People’s Republic of China is set to expire on Tuesday, and the U.S. State Department said it was negotiating to “modify, expand and strengthen” protections within the agreement, but declined to specify whether the United States would extend the agreement. trade.
“We are currently unable to provide information on the specific U.S. negotiating position or whether the agreement will be extended beyond its current expiration date,” a U.S. State Department spokesperson told VOA.
The Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement is the framework for science and technology cooperation between the U.S. government and China.
U.S. officials say the STA provides consistent standards for scientific cooperation between the Chinese and U.S. governments.
While the agreement supports scientific cooperation in areas that benefit the United States, U.S. officials acknowledge the challenges posed by China’s national science and technology strategy and its domestic legal framework.
Critics, including U.S. lawmakers, point to China’s data restrictions and lack of transparency in sharing scientific findings. Washington is also concerned about the safety of U.S. scientists traveling to China and the potential for Beijing to use shared research for military purposes.
A U.S. Congressional Research Service report said China’s cooperation under the agreement not consistent. For example, the CRS said, “China has reportedly withheld avian influenza strains needed for U.S. vaccines and in 2019 cut off U.S. access to coronavirus research, including work at the U.S.-funded Wuhan Institute of Virology.”
Supporters of renewing the deal hope to maintain a level of official and unofficial contact amid strained relations between the two countries.
In a recent discussion hosted by the Institute on China-American Studies (ICAS) in Washington, panellists said the STA has “significant symbolic value” and provides confidence for researchers on both sides to deepen engagement with their peers.
“If the agreement is not renewed, the mutual confidence that sustains and underpins cooperation will inevitably be undermined,” ICAS said in its post-meeting summary.
Dean Cheng, senior adviser to the China Program at the U.S. Institute of Peace, said the U.S. system is much more open, so China is usually able to gather information regardless of whether there is a deal or not.
“STA does not guarantee that American scientists will actually have access to Chinese research, information or scholars, and China will use STA as a means to establish greater influence in the United States,” Cheng told reporters. VOA added that the “strategic advantages” of the deal are likely to come from China.
The STA was originally signed in 1979 by then-US President Jimmy Carter and then-Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping. According to the agreement, the two countries will cooperate in the fields of agriculture, energy, space, health, environment, earth science and engineering, as well as education and academic exchanges.
In November 2009, Sino-US scientific and technological activities increased, new agreements were reached on joint projects in the fields of electric vehicles and renewable energy, and the Sino-US Clean Energy Research Center (CERC) was established. research results. U.S. Department of Energy and China’s Ministry of Science and Technology.
The agreement has been renewed approximately every five years since it came into effect, with the most recent five-year extension in 2018. The deal received a six-month extension last August as officials from both countries negotiated revisions and strengthened terms.
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