Chinese Students in America Policies, Issues, and Numbers (1988) / Chapter Skim
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2. The Brain-Drain Issue
2. The Brain-Drain Issue
Pages 36-56
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From page 36... ...
And, as the Chinese officials like to point out, it is often the most talented individuals who manage to find a way to remain abroad, or at least to postpone their return. Although, as we shall see, the Toss of students to foreign countries has been essentially limited to those who were privately funded, the acute concern is evident in official statements and reflected in iMary Roberto Coolidge, Chinch Immigration (New York, Arno Press, 1909)
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From page 37... ...
Clearly, with approximately 2 million students enrolled in institutions of higher education, for most disciplines undergraduate study abroad is a luxury More important, the previously almost nonexistent graduate education has also expanded and improved. Enrollment of graduate students increased from 21,600 in 1980 to 110,000 in 19863 and, according to He Dongchang, serving in his capacity as Vice-President of the State Council's Academic Degrees Committee, between 1981 and 1987 China granted 53,300 MAs and 664 PhDs.4 Reflecting this development, a recent circular issued by the State Education Commission stated that "China will mainly rely on its own efforts to train graduate students and set up a graduate education system with distinct Chinese characteristics."5 As graduate schools expand]
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From page 38... ...
In a 1986 article, Li Peng, then Minister of the State Education Commission, once again emphasized that state selection of students for study abroad should focus primarily on advanced students and scholars and that "we will not send undergraduate students abroad, except for those studying languages or other specialized subjects."7 The most important point to be made with regard to the holders of J-1 visas is that, at least through 1986, the overwhelming majority have been returning to China on completion of their programs. This is the explicit belief of the legal stab of the USIA, and it is supported by the statistics on J-1 visas presented in the second half of this 6 Chinese sources report that by the end of 1984, 78 percent of ~tatefinanced individuals were "taking refresher coursers (i.e., scholars catching up with developments in their fields that occurred during the decade of the Cultural Revolution, when China was isolated from world scholarship)
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From page 39... ...
These young scholars, many of whom are not attached to wife, children, or work unit, ostensibly are more apt to search for ways to circumvent the immigration laws in an effort to remain abroad. PRIVATELY SPONSORED STUDENTS Whereas J-1 visas are issued to both students and scholars, only students who are not nominated or supported by the Chinese government are issued F-1 visa.
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From page 40... ...
And because by far the largest number of overseas Chinese in the West reside in the United States, it is not surprising that the overwhelming majority of the prospective students managed to find sponsorship in this country. Nevertheless, the number of F-1 visas issued by the U.S.
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From page 41... ...
Beijing knows that this situation must be corrected before more students with F-1 visas can be enticed to return. Following the 1984 conference on foreign study, the State Council issued detailed Draft Regulations on Self-Supported Study Abroad, which have since been frequently and selectively cited by numerous Chinese officials.~° In brief, the regulations assure selfsupported students who have not returned and those planning to leave that they will be provided equal job opportunities and in general be shown the same consideration as those sent and supported by the state.
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From page 42... ...
Although it could not have been a scientific study, anecdotal information supports the identified categories of privately sponsored students. TEE STUDENTS' PERSPECTIVE Despite policy fluctuations, it is relatively easy to understand and describe the official position on sending students abroad; to theorize on the rationale behind the individual plans made by tens of thousands of Chmese students contemplating their future Is much more problematic.
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From page 43... ...
No doubt reflecting his own feelings while studying in Moscow in the 1950s, Li Peng affirmed that "studying abroad is a painful experience," just as it was for Chinese students in the Soviet Union.~4 Only a few years ago China observers would not have hesitated to list yet another set of reasons for Chinese students to return home, even though for those who did not have a sense of China, these reasons would have been difficult to understand. In the late 1980s these additional reasons may seem especially outdated-and yet, because i3"A Survey on China's Policy Toward Studying Abroad," China Spring D*
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From page 44... ...
A survey of Chinese students in the United States showed the overwhelming proportion intend to return home and, according to the survey, the main reason for this decision is "because they are Chinese."35 The China ~magnet" is not new. Of the millions who migrated in the past hundred years, the overwheirning proportion left not because of a special attraction for or the ~pull" of foreign lands, but because of the ~push" created by the inordinately difficult economic and political conditions in their homeland.46 And if these same circumstances prevented them from returning sooner, most hoped to be buried in their native province or village.
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From page 45... ...
In this regard, the self-evident advantages would not be nearly as important were it not for the continuing problems experienced by intellectuals in China. After 10 years of lip service to the intellectual cause, at the Thirteenth CPC National Congress of the Communist Party, then Premier Zhao Ziyang still felt it necessary to repeat that China "must create a social environment in which knowledge and educated people are respected and must continue to improve the working and living conditions of intellectuals so as to turn human resources to best account.
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From page 46... ...
The large Chinese population in this country, with it highly educated middle class, offers not only a familiar environment and considerable support, but often employment as well. Furthermore, non-Chinese employers tend to have a high regard for these hardworking and bright individuals, usually survivors of a stiff selection process before they were permitted to leave China.
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From page 47... ...
Again to generalize, many of these later students were only children at the height of the Cultural Revolution. They had attended Chinese secondary schools and universities when political content in the curriculum was nonexistent or, at least, greatly Reemphasized.
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From page 48... ...
Beijing now refers to "Chinese-style socialism," but, admittedly an oversimplification, it might be easier to understand as "practical socialism": if it works, call it socialist and use it. As part of the modernization process, Beijing is attempting to increase productivity in all sectors of the economy through increased incentives, in part by encouraging private venture for those who are outside the work-unit system and by motivating work units, as well as individuals within the units, to sign a variety of contractual agreements that would either boost or supplement salaries.
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From page 49... ...
In the future "students must be sent on a need basis, quality control must be exercised, and there must be an integration of learning and application."23 In this connection, in the latter part of 1986, the Science and Technology section of the Chinese Embassy in the United States invited six scholars from China to participate in an informal discussion concerning Chinese students in this country and ways to assure their return. Among the recommendations made by this pane!
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From page 50... ...
For example, the goal of holding the number of self-supporting students to a minimum, and thereby reducing the potential pool of people who might clecide to remain abroad, is yet to be reflected in the number of F-1 visas issued, which in fact grew by 68 percent between 1985 and 1986 albeit dropping to a 5 percent increase between 1986 and 1987. The intent to have a larger proportion of scholars doing advanced work in fields other than science and technology, such as management, computer science, and economics and other social sciences, has yet to be reflected in the enrollment statistics.
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From page 51... ...
industries and laboratories may well run into the ever-present security concerns in Washington. These concerns will surely be stimulated by an increased presence of Chinese nationals in private and public research establishments.26 Yet another innovation sought by the State Education Commission to fill China's need for highly trained scholars, while hopefully alleviating the returning student problem, is the granting of joint 25In June 1987 it became unlawful for U.S.
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From page 52... ...
university doing research and laboratory work, and then return to China to write dissertations to be approved by a joint U.S.-PRC faculty committee. In the social sciences the sequence would be reversed, with students doing course work in the United States and then returning to China to do research and write their dissertation.
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From page 53... ...
Because of these special considerations, not only was the intimate involvement of the two governments unlike any previously experienced, but also large numbers of both professionals and well-wishers became involved in the late 1970s and early 1980s to smooth the way for Chinese students. However, the differences between Chinese and other foreign students stop at the brain-drain Issue.
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From page 54... ...
Many of those who remain abroad to work do so for important practical experience and plan to return eventually. ~ Most likely to stay abroad are those who studied some highly specialized field and believe that their new talents would be wasted at home.
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From page 55... ...
Limit education abroad to older students, to more advanced levels, to shorter periods of time, and to persons who have made a career start at home.32 "Lack of careful co-ordination between development needs and student training abroad partly explains why education of these students in developed countries has turned into a broad avenue for permanent m~gration....~33 With regard to Chinese students and scholars, there are other factors as well, but as we have already seen, Beijing has gradually (and probably independently) reached many of the above conclusions, incorporating virtually all of the proposed suggestions into current policies.
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From page 56... ...
56 CHINESE STUDENTS IN AMERICA by the students. But, if the past has any bearing on the future, Beijing might keep two points in mind.
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