In my posts The Sputnik vs. DeepSeek Moment and The Answers, I contrasted America’s reaction to Sputnik—expanded funding for education in math, science, and foreign languages; creation of agencies like ARPA; higher federal R&D spending; recruitment of foreign talent; and reduced tariff barriers—with the more recent U.S. response to China’s rise as an economic and scientific power, which has been almost the reverse.
One can also compare America’s choices today with China’s own strategy, where the roles also seem reversed. A striking example is China’s new K visa for science and technology.
BEIJING, Aug. 14 …China will add a K visa to its ordinary visa categories, available to eligible young science and technology professionals.
Compared with the existing 12 ordinary visa types, K visas will offer more convenience to holders in terms of number of permitted entries, validity period and duration of stay, according to a press conference held by relevant authorities on Thursday.
After entering China, K visa holders can engage in exchanges in fields such as education, culture, and science and technology, as well as relevant entrepreneurial and business activities.
…applications for K visas do not require a domestic employer or entity to issue an invitation, and the application process will also be more streamlined.
“China’s development requires the participation of talent from around the world, and China’s development also provides opportunities for them,” according to the press conference.
The decision aims to…facilitate the entry for foreign young sci-tech talent into China, and promote international cooperation and exchanges among young sci-tech professionals, said officials at the press conference.
Keep in mind that this is on top of China’s newly-eased rules for visa-free entry.
In December 2023, China announced visa-free entry for citizens of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia. Almost all of Europe has been added since then. Travelers from five Latin American countries and Uzbekistan became eligible last month, followed by four in the Middle East. The total will grow to 75 on July 16 with the addition of Azerbaijan.
About two-thirds of the countries have been granted visa-free entry on a one-year trial basis.
The United States faces a shortage of high-IQ workers, yet instead of treating international talent as resource, every immigrant is cast as a threat. Today, it can take months to years just to get an interview to visit the US. At the same time, we are deporting international students, making them feel unwelcome, cutting research funding, and, as a result, losing ground in the competition for academic talent.
Attracting global talent is not China’s strength—the world’s best would rather join the United States. But if America abandons the openness that has long underpinned its exceptionalism, it will squander one of its biggest advantages and decline into a second-rate power.
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