华裔物理学家说，打击间谍活动损害了美国的科学

本文是机翻的美国物理学会旗下网络期刊physics的文章 Crackdown on Spying Damages US Science, Says Chinese-Born Physicist。仅供参考，不代表本人观点和意见。

原文地址： https://physics.aps.org/articles/v14/63

华裔物理学家说，打击间谍活动损害了美国的科学

​天普大学的郗小星是2020年APS(美国物理学会）萨哈罗夫奖的获得者

美国政府最近对经济间谍活动采取了强硬的态度，逮捕了几名涉嫌分享技术秘密或隐藏与中国政府关系的研究人员。但这种打击可能会产生不必要的影响。物理学家郗小星说："无辜的华裔美国科学家正成为不公平的目标，"他是2020年APS(美国物理学会） 萨哈罗夫奖的两位得主之一。费城天普大学的郗小星在2021年APS(美国物理学会）三月会议上发言。他说，国家安全机构的这种针对行为可能会给美国的研究带来灾难性的后果，他敦促科学家们保护他们的中国同事免受不公正的待遇。

郗小星对这件事有切身的体会。2015年5月，他被联邦调查局逮捕，罪名是向中国输送美国敏感技术。但起诉书 "是完全错误的"，郗小星告诉他的APS(美国物理学会）听众。审讯他的联邦调查局人员 "对科学是如何进行的一无所知，他们将常规的学术活动视为犯罪。" 四个月后，指控被撤销，郗小星被释放，因为独立专家说服了联邦检察官，郗小星与他的中国同事分享的原理图并没有描述任何敏感技术。自那时起，郗小星一直致力于提高像他这样的案件的知名度，这使得萨哈罗夫奖委员会去年对他进行了表彰。

在他的演讲中，郗小星强调了美国政府成员所表达的几个误解。例如，在郗小星展示的一个视频片段中，前国务卿迈克-蓬佩奥对中国学生和雇员进行了评论。"他们中的许多人来到这里，窃取我们的知识产权，并将其带回自己的国家。共产主义中国已经在我们的边界内。" 然而，郗小星说，在美国学习的中国研究生中约有90%的人留在这里，而且绝大多数人都在做对美国科学有贡献的公开研究。郗小星说，关于中国间谍 "在我们境内 "的说法让人想起20世纪50年代的麦卡锡主义，当时有数百名美国人被错误地指控为苏联间谍。

另一个误解是，中国和美国科学家之间的学术合作正在帮助中国在技术发展方面超越美国--这被认为是支持这些合作的美国纳税人的损失。郗小星认为，开放的科学交流对美国的科学进步至关重要。他引用了国务院2012年的一份报告，该报告称美中合作 "加速了美国的科学进步，为一系列美国技术机构提供了巨大的直接利益。" 郗小星还引用了美国国家科学基金会项目的文件，该项目十多年来一直资助与包括中国在内的许多国家进行研究合作。"国际参与将是美国在知识前沿保持全球竞争力的关键。"

在过去的几年里，美国司法部逮捕了许多科学家，作为打击知识产权盗窃的举措的一部分。郗小星展示了一份八名华裔美国科学家的名单，他们的案件最终被司法部撤销。但是，许多中国科学家因为害怕这种起诉而离开美国。郗小星认为，问题的一部分在于有关报告利益冲突的规则，如国际合作，并不明确。司法部将不报告国际关系的行为视为刑事犯罪，但郗小星主张将其视为学术不端行为。

郗小星一直在积极宣传由JASON（一个为美国政府提供咨询的独立科学家团体）编制的2019年基础研究和国家安全报告。这份报告为郗小星的许多论点提供了支持，表明不仅与中国的学术合作对美国有利，而且在基础研究中开放和包容外国研究人员也是至关重要的。报告还敦促政府澄清利益冲突报告规则，避免将违反规则的人定罪。"问题是，'中国的教授、科学家和学生是间谍吗？JASON报告明确回答，'不是'，"郗小星说。他最后敦促科学家们为他们的中国同事辩护，使其免受不公正的起诉，并努力保障美国大学的公开基础研究。

下面是原文：

Crackdown on Spying Damages US Science, Says Chinese-Born Physicist

The US government has recently taken a hard line toward economic espionage, arresting several researchers for allegedly sharing technology secrets or for hiding affiliations with the Chinese government. But this crackdown could have unwanted repercussions. “Innocent Chinese-American scientists are being unfairly targeted,” according to physicist Xiaoxing Xi, one of two 2020 winners of the APS Andrei Sakharov Prize. Xi, of Temple University, Philadelphia, spoke at the 2021 APS March Meeting. He said that this targeting by national security agencies could have disastrous consequences for US research, and he urged scientists to defend their Chinese colleagues from injustice.

Xi has personal experience with this matter. In May 2015, he was arrested by the FBI on charges of sending sensitive American technology to China. But the indictment “was totally false,” Xi told his APS audience. His FBI interrogators “knew nothing about how science is done, and they saw routine academic activities as criminal.” Four months later, the charges were dropped, and Xi was released, after independent experts convinced federal prosecutors that the schematics Xi had shared with his Chinese colleagues did not describe any sensitive technology [1]. Since then, Xi has worked to increase the visibility of cases like his, which led the Sakharov Prize committee to honor him last year.

In his talk, Xi highlighted several misconceptions voiced by members of the US government. For example, in a video clip Xi showed, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo commented on Chinese students and employees. “Too many of them come here to steal our intellectual property and to take this back to their country. Communist China is already within our borders.” However, around 90% of the Chinese graduate students who study in the US stay here, Xi said, and the vast majority do open research that contributes to US science. Xi said that talk of Chinese spies “within our borders” is reminiscent of the McCarthyism of the 1950s, when hundreds of Americans were falsely accused of being Soviet spies.

Another misconception is that academic collaborations between Chinese and American scientists are helping China leapfrog the US in technology development—a perceived loss to US taxpayers who support these collaborations. Xi argued that open scientific exchange is essential to US scientific progress. He cited a 2012 State Department report that said US-China cooperation “accelerated scientific progress in the United States, providing significant direct benefit to a range of US technical agencies.” Xi also quoted documentation from a National Science Foundation program that has funded research collaborations with many countries, including China, for over a decade: “International engagement will be critical to keeping the US globally competitive at the frontiers of knowledge.”

Over the past few years, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) has arrested many scientists as part of an initiative to counter intellectual property theft. Xi showed a list of eight Chinese-American scientists whose cases were ultimately dropped by the DOJ. Still, many Chinese scientists have left the US fearing such prosecutions. Xi argued that part of the problem is that the rules regarding reporting of conflicts of interest, such as international collaborations, are unclear. The DOJ treats failures to report international connections as criminal offenses, but Xi advocated for treating them as academic misconduct.

Xi has been active in publicizing a 2019 report on fundamental research and national security produced by JASON, an independent group of scientists that advises the US government. This report provides backing for many of Xi’s arguments, showing that not only is academic collaboration with China beneficial to the US but also that openness and inclusion of foreign researchers in basic research is essential. It also urges the government to clarify conflict-of-interest reporting rules and to avoid criminalizing those who break them. “The question is, ‘are Chinese professors, scientists, and students spies?’ The JASON report answered unequivocally, ‘no,’” Xi said. He concluded by urging scientists to defend their Chinese colleagues against unjust prosecutions and to work to safeguard open basic research at US universities.