Mystery around China’s new science and tech body a sign of secrecy to come, analysts say

A Quiet Record

According to Chen Daoyin, an independent political professor and former teacher, the highly centralized command is similar to what Beijing had in the 1950s when researchers were led by Nie Rongzhen, who was then the director of the National Science Commission and vice-chairman of China’s military committee to build missiles, nuclear weapons, and man-made satellites.

” The situation is comparable today ,” Chen remarked. China wants to achieve aboriginal development in important areas and establish a national system to mobilize resources globally for important tech projects, despite the difficulties it faces from US and its allies’ bans on investment and exports of tech.

The commission’s users are expected to remain devoted technocrats with great regard. According to him, the disclosure of important personnel may provide insight into the path or growth of China’s innovation initiatives.

The organization is therefore expected to operate in great secrecy out of concern for regional security and the scientists’ personal safety, he said.

If Beijing makes everything transparent, according to a Chinese rocket scientist, it will be” very simple” for the US to” sabotage China’s progress.”

” Secretary is nothing new in the world of systems.” It will become more mysterious the more developed it is. Because once it is leaked, it may sabotage the entire country’s future strategy and set us back for a very long time ,” the professor said under the condition of anonymity.

However, I don’t believe that such a subdued strategy means that China is closing the door on global participation in science and technology.

For instance, the US has declined to collaborate with us in storage systems, so be it. We conduct independent studies while continuing to collaborate with those who are also interested in doing so, such as Russia, to find synergies.

RESULTS IN KEEPING Silent

However, Michael Frank, a senior fellow at the Wadhwani Centre for AI and Advanced Technologies under the Washington-based consider cylinder the Center for Strategic and International Studies, believes that maintaining high levels of privacy may be challenging.

The behavior of the country’s experts, labs, universities, businesses, and investors are much more difficult to conceal behind a veil of secrecy than they are, according to Frank.

The payment will likely operate with the same level of transparency as any other branch of the Chinese authorities these days, he said, but that does not mean that it will broadcast every decision and action. The warning is that there might be inside goals that are kept private.

More centralized decision-making about technology plan in Beijing could help lead resources towards priorities like AI and semiconductors, according to Neil Thomas, a Taiwanese politics brother at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Centre for China Analysis, but may hurt China in the long run if it discouraged entrepreneurial development and crowded out investment in promising new areas of research.

More ambiguous Beijing policymaking will feed US concerns about the goals of state-sponsored research in China and contribute to a more challenging social environment for the two nations’ technological cooperation, Thomas said.

The first version of this article appeared on & nbsp, SCMP.