With the tightening of U.S. policy, cooperation between China and the United States in various fields has become difficult. In recent years, in response to China's rapid development in the field of science and technology, the United States** has adopted a series of measures, such as export controls, entity lists, and special congressional acts, requiring American technology companies to achieve "technological decoupling" from China. Not only in the space field, but also in the semiconductor industry. The blockade has even affected U.S. allies, with Germany, the Netherlands, Japan, and South Korea echoing U.S. policy. According to the United States, the situation will become more and more tense and will not improve.
In 1979, China and the United States signed the Sino-US Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement, which stipulates the steps for cooperation between the two countries in the fields of space, energy, and the environment. The agreement has been renewed for the past 40 years for a period of five years. However, as the agreement is about to expire this year, Biden is under tremendous pressure. Some members of Congress have blocked the demand for a permanent abrogation of the agreement, citing that "there is no precondition for cooperation between the two countries". The agreement was supposed to be renewed in late August this year, but so far, China and the United States have not reached an agreement.
In an interview with former U.S. Ambassador to China Burns, he raised the issue of renewing the agreement and revealed some information. Burns said the U.S. recognizes the importance of the agreement to U.S.-China cooperation, but he doesn't think the prospects for its renewal are uncertain. He also said that the United States is considering "updating and revising" the content on artificial intelligence, biotechnology and other aspects. Therefore, China and the United States will not necessarily agree, and both sides hold such views. In addition, he brought good news: the United States and China have begun discussions on the renewal of the agreement, and it is possible that it will be completed in the coming months. However, no one can ** the final result.
Some analysts believe that Burns has put forward some "conditions" for the renewal of the agreement, indicating that they will discuss the renewal of the agreement with China after the new version is updated. It is foreseeable that the revised version of the United States may contain "non-cooperation" clauses in China's space and semiconductor fields, but it may retain some industrial chains that are beneficial to the United States and cooperation in terms of climate and environment. As a result, Burns argues that China will not necessarily accept such a unilateral favorable treaty, and remains uncertain about the future. On the other hand, however, the United States is concerned that China is taking the same uncooperative approach on issues such as climate. What they are looking for is not the result of not renewing the contract, but to get as much benefit as possible from it.
It is worth mentioning that the news of the possible abrogation of the "Sino-US Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement" has also shocked the US science and technology community. Earlier, scientists from all walks of life in the United States jointly called on the White House to renew the agreement with China, otherwise the cooperation that has been reached will be lost. However, Biden** has always responded with a "postponement of negotiations" and has not given any definitive news. In response, some commentators said: "Even after the agreement is renewed, there is no guarantee that the United States will not introduce a unilateral containment policy similar to the Wolf Clause, or a so-called regulatory agreement that undermines cooperation." The United States has been poor on this issue. ”
Overall, there is still a lot of uncertainty about the renewal of the U.S.-China Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement. Although the two sides have begun preliminary discussions on the renewal, the concrete results are not yet available. The United States has put forward some "conditions" for the renewal of the agreement, hoping to obtain more benefits. However, China may have reservations about these conditions, as they could adversely affect China's development. In the coming months, we need to closely monitor the progress of the renewal of the agreement, and hopefully a mutually beneficial outcome will be reached. As the two largest economies, scientific and technological cooperation between China and the United States is critical to global development and stability. Any unilateral blockade and non-cooperation will have a negative impact on both sides and the world. We hope that the two sides can resolve their differences in an open and cooperative manner, and push China-US science and technology cooperation in a better direction.