Why China Can't Lure Tech Talent
Walls won't work.
Photographer: Greg Baker/AFPDonald Trump's campaign promise to crack down on visas for skilled foreign technology workers has a cheerleader in China. Robin Li, the head of Baidu, recently told a conference that he hopes talented workers who are no longer welcome in the U.S. will "migrate to China and help China play a more important role on the stage of global innovation."
He shouldn't get his hopes up. Whatever Trump's immigration policy turns out to be -- he may yet be swayed by the business luminaries he's meeting with this week -- China won't be luring foreign tech talent any time soon. And its struggles hold a lesson for every other country hoping to become the Silicon Valley of the future: The competition for global talent will be won by countries that foster the culture of openness -- to new ideas and new people -- that defined the American tech business for decades before Trump.