Leggett meets with Chinese president on attracting foreign experts to China

On May 22, 2014, Nobel laureate Anthony Leggett, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Professor of Physics at the U. of I., was one of five foreign experts who met with Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss how best to further China’s efforts to attract overseas experts to China’s universities, research institutions, and industry. Since becoming president in March 2013, Xi has sought to build on the “1,000 experts” initiative introduced under his predecessor, to attract leaders in science, technology, finance, and manufacturing to China in order to encourage innovation within these areas.

A total of fifty foreign experts were hand picked to attend the day’s meetings at the Shanghai Xijiao State Guest Hotel, but none of the guests learned the identity of the high official they would be meeting with until that morning. Fifteen from the group made presentations during a morning session.

In the afternoon, after a group photo was taken with Xi, just five of the experts—Leggett, along with Dutch expert on education and culture Annette Nijs, US aeronautical engineer Patrick Power, German virologist Ralf Altmeyer, and US financial expert Gregory Gibb—addressed Xi, sharing insights and recommendations based on their personal experiences in China.

Each of the five addressed Xi with a prepared speech, after which Xi responded with a substantial speech that reflected on the history of China’s relations with western nations and on the need to open China up to the outside world and to strengthen cooperation with other countries.

Leggett said the day’s discussions focused primarily on immediate practical concerns related to attracting foreign scholars and entrepreneurs—such as housing, financial support, medical care, and children’s education. In his speech, however, Leggett also took the opportunity to stress the importance of a welcoming and open intellectual environment wherein researchers are not afraid to challenge well-established beliefs.

Here is a brief excerpt from Leggett’s speech:

I do not believe that science and technology can ever flourish in a vacuum. Any university which aspires eventually to become competitive with Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, MIT, and Stanford (and I hope many Chinese universities do) needs to embed its scientific and technical activities in an overall intellectual setting which includes world-class excellence not only in science and technology, but also in arts and social sciences. In fact, I have repeatedly found throughout my career that the really fundamental issues in physics have a strong intersection with these other disciplines, in particular, with philosophy, and I have benefited enormously from interactions with colleagues who are leaders in these fields.

Indeed, the freedom to challenge even the most firmly established beliefs, while some may find it uncomfortable, is an essential component in any program that aims at really world-changing innovation and nation building. More generally, I believe that the provision and maintenance of a general intellectual environment which recognizes new ideas in all areas, including the arts and social sciences, is a truly indispensable ingredient in attracting to China those foreign experts, including those in science and technology, who may be able to initiate or participate in truly meaningful innovation.

In Xi’s response to Leggett’s speech, he acknowledged the idea that science and philosophy must go hand in hand. Xi, who since taking office last year has been starkly criticized by the international press for strengthening censorship within China, stressed that the effort to bring foreign experts to China to enhance innovation must be accompanied by an effort to open up the country and the minds of its people.

“We should promote the opening-up of the vision, way of thinking, knowledge, and technology of the people,” Xi shared. “Through learning and applying advanced knowledge and technology in the world, we can elevate the overall opening-up to new levels.”

Xi went on to share that, as a nation with a fine tradition of respecting and cherishing talents, China now needs to welcome in more foreign experts than ever before in its history, and to provide “a broader stage for foreign experts for their talents and dreams.” He said China’s academic and research institutions should play a principal role in integrating foreign expertise into the requirements of China’s modernization and development.

For its part, Xi said China needs to “ensure the protection of intellectual property rights, guarantee the legitimate rights and interests of foreign talents, and present honors and awards to foreign talents who have made outstanding contributions, so that the foreign talents who aspire to pursue their career in China will come and stay, given full play of their talents, and find their proper places.”

Leggett noted that Xi’s taking the time to meet with the foreign experts the day after a deadly bombing in Xinjiang, China, is a testament to the Chinese president’s commitment to welcoming foreign talent into China’s universities, research centers, and industry, and to building an innovative China with strong cultural and intellectual ties to the rest of the world. Leggett said that Xi made a point of thanking the visiting experts for their insights—for their criticisms as well as their words of praise.

Leggett said most major Chinese universities have two or three foreigners on faculty, and lectures and committee meetings are often conducted in English.

Over the last three years, Leggett has been conducting research and engaging in academic activities at Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China, where he serves as director for a new research center, the Shanghai Center for Complex Physics. The center has just begun its efforts to recruit members from inside and outside of China. It has to date hosted two international workshops, the first in April 2013, the second in January 2014.

Leggett shared, “At the last workshop, which was held in Kunming, many new experimental results from groups in China were announced. This was very exciting and encouraging.”