[BEIJING] China’s government is reviewing impacts on the nation’s scientific research after US President Donald Trump’s moves to withdraw funding from some US agencies and halt publication of certain categories of data.
Several Chinese ministries and bodies have in recent weeks started assessing potential disruption to their work, and made efforts to determine the extent to which some activities have become reliant on data published by the US, according to sources familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified to discuss details that are not public.
Agencies carrying out reviews include the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China Meteorological Administration, Ministry of Natural Resources and Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, one of the sources said.
One area of work facing potential disruption has been studies of coral bleaching in the South China Sea, according to another source. Chinese researchers had used a US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) product that published coastal water temperatures, which was decommissioned last month, the source said.
The move comes as Beijing and Washington have been working to get bilateral relations back on track, with negotiators agreeing on a framework to ease trade tensions and revive the flow of sensitive goods between the world’s two largest economies. But details are scarce and many issues remain unresolved, including China’s massive trade surplus with the US.
Reviews being carried out by the Chinese ministries will examine if domestic sources can replace the use of US data that’s now unavailable, the sources said. Investigations are being conducted quietly to avoid giving the US any potential bargaining chip, according to the sources.
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The Chinese Academy of Sciences, China Meteorological Administration, Ministry of Natural Resources and Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Beijing has sought in recent years to reduce its dependence on foreign sources for critical technology and products. Past US actions have only accelerated China’s push for self-reliance, much like how US curbs on chip sales have spurred growth in the country’s home-grown semiconductor industry.
China views climate science as a geopolitical battleground. President Xi Jinping wants his country to become a weather superpower and have a bigger say in global meteorological governance. Beijing spent nearly 500 per cent more on climate diplomacy from 2013 to 2023, following a familiar strategy of offering financial help to other nations to boost the use of Chinese technology and services.
In the US, job losses and funding cuts have impacted the collection and availability of data in fields such as climate, weather and health. Hundreds of employees have been fired at NOAA as part of the Trump administration’s broader efforts to shrink the federal government.
NOAA declined to comment on whether the removal of data products and websites has impacted cooperation with other countries, including China. The agency said coastal water temperature data remains available in other formats. The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The coastal water temperature guide made data “easier for scientists or interested lay people to see it and analyse it”, said Craig McLean, an ocean researcher who worked at NOAA for decades before retiring in 2022. Without the original presentation, “it could be a more complicated journey” for anyone trying to use and make sense of the information, he said.
Cuts to research and information sharing in the US will also impact partners from Europe to Australia, across fields such as astronomy, physics, public health and weather monitoring, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute said last month.
Chinese data
It isn’t just the US that has pulled back on the amount of data it makes public. China has drawn criticism for tightening its grip on sensitive details, limiting the ability of economists, think tanks, financial analysts and others to access information. Restrictions have included corporate registries, bond market transactions, official biographies of politicians and academic papers.
Domestic data firm Wind Information in 2023 stopped providing detailed information on local companies to overseas clients, while the Ministry of State Security repeatedly warned that foreign entities are obtaining sensitive data, including on food production, geography and weather patterns, through software, non-governmental organisations and unwitting Chinese citizens.
China has a history of working with America’s federal science agencies, including NOAA, and last year renewed a treaty first signed in 1979 covering cooperation in several fields. Researchers have often praised the accuracy and comprehensive coverage of US data – in 2017, the China Meteorological Administration said the US data prediction was among the best in the world. BLOOMBERG
