Physicist seen as inspiration for exchanges

People celebrating the extraordinary life of renowned Chinese-American nuclear physicist Chien-Shiung Wu have highlighted the need to ramp up scientific exchanges between China and the United States and fight discrimination against Asians in the US.

Sponsored by the American Physical Society and the Chinese Physical Society, an international forum marking the 110th birth anniversary of Wu was held on Saturday in Maryland and was attended online and in person by representatives from leading US and Chinese universities as well as legislators and officials. Wu was one of the most influential nuclear physicists of the 20th century.

In a speech delivered to the gathering, Chinese Ambassador to the US Qin Gang noted that Madame Wu's life served as an excellent example of how scientific exchange knows no borders, and the only correct way to progress is to cooperate and promote such exchanges.

"As the world's two largest economies, China and the United States should work together to address the common challenges facing humanity," he said in the speech at the forum.

Qin said he hopes that in the future, more scientific exchanges and dialogue can be established between scholars, universities and even middle and high school students.

"China and the United States should join hands to promote more people to understand and love physics, devote themselves to science, and make contributions to the progress of the two countries and the world," he told the forum.

Dutch Ruppersberger, a US representative, said he believes China and the US can work together for the benefit of both nations.

"China and the United States can work together in areas like space, for instance. I know China wants to go to the moon, and we've been to the moon," Ruppersberger told China Daily in an interview.

Ruppersberger's comments on space cooperation are rare for a member of Congress, as congressional prohibitions on space cooperation with China — as stipulated by the Wolf Amendment in NASA appropriations bills — have been in place since 2011.

In a report titled "Caught in the Crossfire: Fears of Chinese-American Scientists" released by the Asian American Scholar Forum on Friday, researchers said the US leadership in science and technology has greatly benefited from immigrants, most notably from China in recent decades.

"However, feeling the pressure of potential federal investigation since the 2018 launch of the China Initiative under the Trump administration, Chinese-origin scientists in the US now face higher incentives to leave the US and lower incentives to apply for federal grants," the report said.

In a separate interview with China Daily, Sylvester James Gates Jr, president of the American Physical Society 2021, characterized the "China Initiative" as a "misrecognition".

"When you think about the United States government and you think about the Chinese government, what you should think about is not that they should be enemies," he said.

Many participants at the forum noted that in early 2021, the US Postal Service issued a commemorative Forever stamp in honor of Chien-Shiung Wu.

Susan Lee, a Democratic state senator from Maryland, said having the stamp for Wu and celebrating the 110th anniversary of her birth is "truly significant".

Young-Kee Kim, president of the American Physical Society 2024, said the idea that science must address the challenges of our times is one that Madame Wu firmly believed in.

She said that throughout her life, Wu witnessed the full range of how science can impact the world. Working on the Manhattan Project and seeing the aftermath, Wu learned that physics that can bring about the end of a world war also can lead to the world's destruction.