The U.S. Should Grab the Talent China Is Driving Away

From the 1990s through the early 2010s, it looked as if China could do no wrong. Its economy grew at a breakneck pace as its companies hungrily gobbled up market share in a wide array of manufacturing industries. Its political system, although authoritarian, seemed increasingly stable, as power passed from Deng Xiaoping to Jiang Zemin to Hu Jintao to Xi Jinping in an orderly manner. As opportunities to get rich in China proliferated, Chinese students who came to the U.S. increasingly went back after graduation.

But now the seemingly unstoppable juggernaut is hitting a rough patch. The economy, which had already slowed earlier in this decade, is slowing some more. President Xi has changed the rules to allow himself to effectively be president for life. The country is growing increasingly repressive, not just toward the Uighurs and other minorities, but toward the general public. Even discussion of economic policy is now often off-limits. The country may yet regain its economic footing and resume opening up, but for now all of the trends look bad.