U.S.-Chinese Collaborations

Jeffrey Mervis, in his article “Both sides point finger in tiff over China dig” (News & Comment, [1 Nov., p. 715][1]) about a conflict between Chinese and American geoscientists working in western China, reports an unfortunate occurrence, from which readers might conclude that systemic impropriety on the part of Chinese scientists and institutions was to blame. I do not presume to know the details of the incident, but I emphatically urge caution against generalizing that such incidents are characteristic of fieldwork in China or that they in any way typify relations between U.S. and Chinese scientists. I spent a month in China doing fieldwork at the same time (and, in fact, on a very similar subject) as Lucas, Geissman, and Molina-Garza, and I was fully and generously hosted by my Chinese colleagues. I did not spend one yuan. Both the individual scientists and the institutions I worked with were extremely gracious, and the trip was scientifically productive and enjoyable. It would be wrong to impugn the Chinese scientific community on the basis of this unfortunate incident. Let us hope that an amicable and mutually satisfying resolution to this dispute can be found and that ongoing and future U.S.-Chinese collaborations will not be imperiled by escalation into inappropriate venues. [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.274.5288.715