The sudden emergence of DeepSeek did not surprise those who seriously followed China this decade. In fact, recent studies gave out clear signals. In August 2024, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute informed, “China and the United States have effectively switched places as ‘the overwhelming leader in just two decades.” The report revealed that China leads in 57 of the 64 critical technologies, with the US only maintaining a tenuous lead in 7. Further, Chinese research institutions were producing nine times more high-impact research papers than the second-ranked country (usually the US).
Two months later, in October 2024, Nature Index listed the top 10 research institutions globally. Seven Chinese institutions had entered the top list. The Chinese Academy of Sciences displaced Harvard University, which dropped to second place. And Stanford University was edged out of the top 10.
Relevant Chinese history
China’s scientific and technological ambitions have deep historical roots. In 1793, Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty rejected British diplomatic gifts, which included advanced English brass cannons. These cannons were far more advanced than the Chinese weaponry. In his arrogance, he declared, “there is no need to import the manufactures of outside barbarians”. It was to have disastrous consequences. A half-century later, Britain would return to attack China with far superior weaponry, humiliating it in the First Opium War (1839–1842).
A century later, in 1949, the Chinese revolution took hold. Mao inherited a technologically redundant nation. He sought to avoid the mistakes of Qianlong. Aligning with the USSR, Mao aimed for rapid industrialisation. Barely two months after taking power, he met Stalin in Moscow to secure modern factories, send Chinese students to Soviet universities, and request Soviet advisers to manage China’s economic transition.
China under Mao did modernise. But, the tectonic shift took place under Deng Xiaoping, who took over in 1978. He is regarded as the ‘Architect of Modern China.’ His famous phrase “hide your capabilities and bide your time” shaped and continues to shapeChina’s strategies policy.
The success of homing in on global domination in science and technology systems from long-term strategic planning. Partly, this was the result of China’s penetration of top scientific institutions worldwide. As of 2021, there were 2356 joint venture US-China education programmes. China funds 1413 think tanks, funding 400 million US dollars annually. US universities have become increasingly reliant on Chinese investments. Since 2013, China has been the largest source of foreign donations to US universities, contributing over $426 million in donations and contracts. The Thousand Talents Plan successfully recruits Chinese researchers for cutting-edge work in foreign universities.
The centrality of microchips
In her book A Year without ‘Made in China’, American journalist Sara Bongioni found that virtually everything is made in China. However, high-end microchips are an exception. China has had to import powerful chips, spending more on them than on oil – $260 billion in 2017, more than Saudi Arabia’s oil exports or Germany’s car exports.
In October 2022, the Biden administration imposed a ban on microchip exports to China. This ban has been described as a ‘declaration of economic war’, signalling the undeclared second Cold War. That’s because A,I crucial for the next wave of warfare, will rely heavily on new chip technology. The war of the future will involve robot armies, unmanned drones, hypersonic missiles, and AI-driven strategic planning. China’s 2017 “New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan” sought to make the country a global leader in AI by 2030 – and China is already there.
There is another socio-cultural phenomenon that China has and India doesn’t. The super-rich of China invests massively in education, science and technology. “It’s politically correct to invest in science and technology”, states Donald Dai, Chinese tech executive. China’s 2024 China Philanthropy List, a report from the Hurun Research Institute, found that 70 per cent of the country’s top donors prioritised education. Beverage magnate Zhong Shanshan is spending 40 billion yuan to set up Qiantang University, Cao Dewang, the Fuyao Group, is spending US$10 billion for Fuyao University of Science and Technology (FYUST). The list is long and the goal is unwavering.
Ostrich in the sand
In India, these developments have received little media attention. Mainstream Indian media has consistently ignored scientific and technological advancements. Indian policymakers have ignored the need to address China’s growing technological dominance. Rather than ramping up science and technology education. India has made bizarre and regressive decision to remove key scientific concepts from school textbooks, such as the periodic table, the theory of evolution, electromagnetism, and sustainable resource use. These moves essentially downgrade science for 38 million Indian schoolchildren – a technological hara-kiri.
Nehruvian efforts
Jawaharlal Nehru understood the vital role of science in nation-building. Nehru understood that in our context Indian government had to fund science and technology. His blueprint for modern India had two pillars: First, to create world-class institutions in India. His visit to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1949 led to the establishment of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), beginning with Kharagpur (1950), Bombay (1958), Madras (1959), and Kanpur (1959). Nehru also created state-run scientific institutions like the Department of Atomic Energy (1954), the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (1954), the Indian Space Research Organisation (1962), and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) (1942).
Second, Nehru recruited India’s brightest scientific minds -Vikram Sarabhai, C. V. Raman, Homi J. Bhabha, S. S. Bhatnagar, and others – to lead these institutions.
Relevance of the Nehruvian science and technology paradigm
Nehru understood that colonial subjugation was a direct result of scientific backwardness. He knew India could not afford to fall behind in the global science and technology race. It is crucial that India’s policymakers and intellectuals recognise Nehruvian paradigms sooner rather than later. The world’s technological landscape is surging at unheard-of speeds, and India cannot afford to remain passive.
Disclaimer
Views expressed above are the author’s own.
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