Academic merit

Apart from scientific excellence, integ- rity should also be equally venerated by the nation's top academicians.

An academic at, say, the prestigious Chinese Academy of Sciences or the Chinese Academy of Engineering should desist from chasing after titles that have the potential of being abused for economic gain.

As such, a proposal by some academicians - during the ongoing national congress of academicians - that top academicians be disallowed from taking on too many positions or from attending ceremonial functions, is bold as well as timely.