From: mlibucha@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Mark A Libucha)
Subject: Re: Protection Bill
Organization: The Ohio State University
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1992 11:54:45 GMT

In article <1992Sep29.030719.1@cua.edu> chenx@cua.edu writes:
>For the discussion of the protection bill, there is always an assumption
>that Chinese government want these Chinese students go back to China.
>My question is whether or not it is true.
>
>As we can see, nobody in China care much about the Science and Technology
>right now.  Everybody believe that business can make them and the country
>rich.  In particular, maybe half of of these Chinese student are majoring
>in physics, chemistry, and the other fundamantal scientific fields, can they
>make big profits for the country?  On the other hand, there are a lot of
>"noise  maker" for the government, they can produce nothing but trouble
>to the government.  Why Chinese government wants them to go back?  To make
>things worse, you were in USA in the period of 6.4, they may have some extra
>considerations if they want to put you in some embarrassing situation.
>
>As my understanding, the first priority of the Chinese government is to
>maintain the leadership of CCP, and everything else will serve this goal.
>Starting from this point, I can not find a convincing reason why the Chinese
>government want you back.  Nobody will enjoy the crack down of the student
>movement, it is even true for Li Peng.  The best thing is that there is no
>student movement at all.  If somebody want to say that the Chinese students in
>USA is a chip, we have to understand what does this chip mean.  One thing for
>sure that if all the Chinese students in USA will go back to China, there is n
o
>doubt that many of them will become the organizer for the future student
>movement.  I believe it since there are many reasons in politics, culture,
>economy and so on.  If you are a boss, are you willing to hire somebody who ca
n
>not make profits to you but a lot  of trouble.  In particular, he is also
>a kind of the Union member, it is also a trouble to fire him.
>
>OK, maybe my opinion is stupid. Hopefully, nobody will feel uncomfortable for
>it.

I think the Chinese government really *does* want the Chinese students
and scholars back (although I'm willing to admit it is possible they *don't*
really want them back and are just using the issue for political leverage in
other areas.) Here are the reasons:

(1) The students and scholars represent a major investment for China, for
both J-1 *and* F-1 holders. A very small percentage of people receive a
college education in China, and generally speaking, the best of this small
number go abroad. China put valuable resources into educating all of these
people. It's a real blow to see those investments paying off for an
economic rival.

(2) A strong economy in the world market must be supported by research and
development. These people are trained to do this work.

(3) The Chinese government doesn't believe that the returning students and
scholars will cause them any "problems". They will be watched closely, and
those who "make trouble" will be taken care of. And, IMHO, if these people
are forced to return, *very* *few* will get involved in political opposition
to the government. A lot of people abroad are speaking out against the
Chinese government because it's a "no lose" situation. Speaking out only
makes them more eligible for political asylum. Once back in China, however,
few will be so brave (as Shen Tong).

(4) If the students are forced to return to China, the government will get
a whole lot of "face" in China. It sends the message, "The CCP and its
policies and respected by the U.S." This sort of thing means a *lot* to the
Chinese government. The return of the students also bolsters the claim of
the CCP that there are no (more?) serious human rights violations in China.

(5) The mere presence of the disgruntled, silent, and defeated students back
in China will be a major victory. It will show that the arms of the CCP
stretch all around the globe, and no one is free to defy it. (This is
assuming of course that some actually *do* go back if the bill does not
become law, a scenario which I view as highly unlikely.)

(6) The return will take the color out of "The Dream" that all Chinese
high school and college students dream: study and freedom and money in a
foreign country.
Newsgroups: soc.culture.china