The U.S. and China managed to renew a Science and Technology Agreement which has been in operation since the establishment of relations with the P.R.C. in 1979. In the anti-China mood in the country, this agreement has come under fire, and was previously only renewed by the Biden Administration in August for six months, pending a further look at its implication. The renewed agreement excludes cooperation on “critical or emerging technologies,” but provides the basis for continued exchange of scientists and scientific data between the U.S. and China.
The renewal, however, has also come under fire from the Republican “China hawks,” and may run into trouble under the Trump Administration. In a letter sent on Dec. 12, John Moolenaar, the Republican chair of the House select committee on China, asked Secretary of State Antony Blinken to “immediately suspend efforts” to renew the deal.
