Media: the United States thought about the advisability of extending the scientific agreement with China

The US authorities are discussing the future of the agreement with China on scientific and technological cooperation, which expires in August. Some participants in the discussion suggest not to extend it, told three officials familiar with the matter, to Reuters.

This agreement was signed in 1979 after the establishment of diplomatic relations between Washington and Beijing and has been renewed every five years since then. Thanks to the agreement, cooperation in the academic and business environment has grown dramatically, which, according to the agency, helped China to turn into a technological and military power.

The main question, according to Reuters, which is discussed in connection with this in Washington, is whether the benefits for the United States from cooperation with China outweigh the risks of strengthening their competitor, which “may play by different rules.” The prevailing point of view is still the extension of the agreement, but more and more officials and parliamentarians are beginning to lean towards abandoning it amid growing competition between countries.

“An extension of the US-China science and technology agreement will only further jeopardize our research and intellectual property,” Mike Gallagher, a member of the Congressional Special Committee on China, was quoted by the agency as saying.

Some participants in the discussion propose not to withdraw from the agreement, but to change its terms. We are talking about securing guarantees against industrial espionage and reciprocity in the exchange of data. But an attempt to revise the details of the agreement could lead to its breakdown, other officials say, pointing to the low level of relations between Washington and Beijing.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington said that the American side is still conducting an internal review regarding the extension of the agreement, expressing the hope that this process will accelerate. The State Department declined to comment.

Earlier today it became known about the visit to Beijing of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. This was the first visit to China by a senior American diplomat in five years. The trip was supposed to take place in February, but fell through due to balloon incident in US airspace.

Blinken is expected to meet Foreign Minister Qin Gang, senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi and possibly Chinese President Xi Jinping. The Secretary of State intends to “establish open and reliable channels of communication so that the strategic rivalry between the two countries does not escalate into conflict,” the media reported.