Academics defend Huawei

Scholars urged to expand work outside of US

The ban on China's Huawei has put US-based international organizations and standards bodies in danger, as they have traded their principle of being unbiased and non-discriminatory for being more politically correct, Chinese analysts said on the decision of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) to ban Huawei employees from reviewing papers, which has also outraged Chinese academics.



The latest incident set an alarm in Chinese academic circles, which has been urged to strengthen their influence on the global stage while looking for more cooperation in non-US regions, analysts noted.



It's a good opportunity for Chinese intellectuals to strengthen the country's own science and research influence in the international academic community following the incident, Zhang Yunquan, a research fellow at the Institute of Computing Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told the Global Times.



"It's time for China to develop more specialty-oriented organizations, starting with expanding their influence in Asia," Zhang said, noting that it might also help China to reduce its dependence on US-based associations like IEEE.



The IEEE said in a statement sent to the Global Times on Thursday that they complied with US government regulations which restrict the ability of listed Huawei companies and their employees to participate in certain activities not generally open to the public.



This includes certain aspects of publication peer reviews and editorial process, IEEE said.



The statement was issued following a flood of condemnation on Chinese social media on Wednesday after the IEEE reportedly sent an email to its editorial colleagues to replace all reviews from Huawei in its journals.



The move, which sparked outrage in China, was in line with the US government's broader efforts to clamp down on the Chinese tech giant. Several US-based standards-setting organizations had cut ties with Huawei earlier, which analysts considered a mistake that needed to be corrected.



But Huawei's memberships in the SD Association and Wi-Fi Alliance were reinstated, media reported. Some Chinese academics consider the irresolute and changeable attitude of these US-based industry bodies "an absolute joke."



The academic circle has felt the chill of the tech "Cold War" between China and the US. Some said they are shocked and saddened by the latest ban of the US standards bodies and professional associations on Huawei, which severely violates the principles of the international academe.



"It's very sad to see an professional international organization abandon its academic integrity and bottom line under political pressure," Jin Hai, a professor at Huazhong University of Science and Technology, told the Global Times on Thursday.



The China Computer Federation protested on Thursday IEEE's ban on Huawei, urging its members not to contribute any papers to the Communications Society (ComSoc) of IEEE, and immediately halt all contact with ComSoc. CCF also suggested that its members not participate in paper reviews or other academic activities in ComSoc-sponsored publications or conferences.



"This is devastative for IEEE, as a large part of its revenue comes from conferences and publications," Jin said.



The ban on China's Huawei has put US-based international organizations and standards bodies in a dangerous place, as they have traded their principle of being unbiased and non-discriminatory for being more politically correct, Chinese analysts said on the decision of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) to ban Huawei employees from reviewing papers, which has also outraged Chinese academics.



While US organizations have become more closed and isolated, Chinese associations are expected to expand their cooperation circle beyond the US.



Chinese scientists have been increasing their global collaboration in recent years.



China's heavy investment in scientific resources paid off in the huge rise in the country's share of scientific papers and citations in the Scopus database that indexes global scientific publications, according to a research paper published on the website of Scholar at Harvard in 2018.



China, with 426 science and engineering publications, topped the US in 2016, according to the National Science Foundation. Science and engineering publications are one of the tangible measures of research activity for international comparison.



Decoupling in not only technology but also scientific and research will also become a huge loss for the US.

