A recent report published by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) said that China has gained a large technological advantage over the United States and other Western nations.
"Western democracies are losing the global technological competition, including the race for scientific and research breakthroughs, and the ability to retain global talent—crucial ingredients that underpin the development and control of the world’s most important technologies, including those that don’t yet exist," the report said.
ASPI's Critical Technology Tracker also found that "China has built the foundations to position itself as the world’s leading science and technology superpower."
According to Reuters, the ASPI's study tracked research output in the areas of defense, space, energy and biotechnology, finding that, in some fields, all of the world's top 10 research institutions are based in China. Although the U.S. was often ranked second, it still led global research in high-performance computing, quantum computing, small satellites and vaccines. The report supported greater research investment by governments and collaborations between democracies to create secure supply chains and boost the production of strategic critical technology.
The study also tracked highly-cited scientific papers, which are the most likely to result in patents. China's research strength in the areas of photonic sensors and quantum communication could lead to the country "going dark" to Western surveillance, including the "Five Eyes" of Britain, the United States, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, Reuters said.
The ASPI also tracked the national talent flows of researchers and identified the risks of growing monopolies. In the Reuters article, China was reported as being likely to emerge with a monopoly in 10 areas, such as synthetic biology, electric batteries, 5G (fifth generation wireless technology) and nano-manufacturing.
The government-owned Chinese Academy of Science ranked either first or second in most of the 44 technologies tracked, which included defense, space, robotics, energy, the environment, biotechnology, artificial intelligence (AI), advanced materials and quantum technology, according to Reuters. China was in the process of strengthening its research with knowledge gained overseas, and data revealed that one-fifth of the top Chinese researchers were educated in a "Five Eyes" country, the article said.
The ASPI called for visa screening programs to limit illegal transfers of technology, asking for the promotion of international collaboration with security allies. The report's authors also recommended greater investment in research by democratic nations in an effort to compete with China in emerging technologies such as hypersonics, where China produced over 48% of the world's high-impact research papers into advanced aircraft engines over the past five years.
