China’s Brain Drain Should Be America’s Gain
Some of the mainland’s best and brightest are eager to move. The US should be actively opening up pathways for them to immigrate.
Bleak prospects.
Source: China Photos/Getty Images
Among those who see opportunity in China’s spreading malaise is the Central Intelligence Agency, which recently amped up efforts to recruit sources on the mainland. That’s surely wise. But the US should be wooing more than spies.
Although numbers are hard to pin down, strong anecdotal evidence suggests a growing cohort of China’s brightest minds are eager to try their luck abroad. Some are dismayed by faltering economic growth, others by a stifling political and regulatory atmosphere. Young Chinese facing bleak job prospects, scientists confronting barriers to collaboration with Western counterparts, entrepreneurs fearful of crackdowns — all have cause for disgruntlement.