Use policy and funding changes to reboot approach to collaboration, say Lewis Husain and colleagues
The recent refresh of the UK government’s Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy frames China as an “epoch-defining and systemic challenge with implications for almost every area of government”. This reflects the UK’s increasingly tense relations with China and an emerging strategy towards it.
Much of the UK’s position is around protecting its interests and aligning with partners. However, there is also more clarity about the need for strategic dialogue and cooperation to prevent misunderstandings. All this has implications for UK research. First, open science and global cooperation are fundamental to scientific progress—and in the UK’s interest. Second, China’s engagement is essential to tackling global challenges. Third, China’s importance in many policy areas demands that countries strengthen their knowledge of the nation.
The International Science Partnership Fund (ISPF) is a welcome initiative, filling some of the gap left by the end of the Newton Fund, Global Challenges Research Fund and Prosperity Fund. But UK research funding needs a more comprehensive strategy. The open science case is made in a 2021 report from King’s College London, which argued that, given China’s huge R&D spending and links with UK researchers, collaboration should be based on free exchange of unclassified research, with safeguards to manage risks around national security. This would benefit UK science: joint UK-China publications have a higher citation impact than either nation achieves on its own.
Alongside this, China is critical to dealing with many global challenges, including climate change, sustainable food systems, pandemic prevention, antimicrobial resistance and biodiversity. UK-China research collaborations have already contributed to addressing global challenges, to the UK’s benefit; the ISPF must recognise that working with China in such areas is necessary and inevitable.
UK research funding must also acknowledge that countries in the global south want to engage with China in research—for understandable reasons. The UK therefore needs mechanisms that build connections and relationships with China in the global south, recognising the potential benefits to all parties.
Developing research partnerships with China has become increasingly difficult. Cuts to UK development spending, compounded by the pandemic and travel difficulties, have made it harder to sustain and develop relationships with Chinese researchers. There is greater scrutiny of Chinese research collaborations, and some Chinese researchers have been refused entry into the UK. Working in China is also more difficult, with data security a particular issue.
Helping UK researchers maximise benefits and navigate risks means building up capabilities, such as UK Research and Innovation’s Beijing office, to engage with China’s research and knowledge. It also means prioritising collaboration with China in the ISPF’s themes and calls. The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council’s global partnering award, which supported networking and relationship building, is an example that could be expanded to new funding areas.
Strengthening ties
China is not a monolith, and understanding its economy and politics is critical for constructive engagement. The UK has a strong research base on China, but the country now touches on so many policy debates that teaching and research needs strengthening across the board, and building language skills, deep China knowledge and working relations with Chinese agencies will require long-term support.
The UK also needs more effective mechanisms to allow decision-makers to draw on research and analysis from outside government, and to help researchers understand government’s priorities. This will require mechanisms for dialogue and exchange between government and academia, and platforms for issue-focused and policy-relevant research.
Here, the UK can learn from other countries. The European Union recently funded research to strengthen its independent China knowledge and is creating platforms for experts to advise on strategy. Australia has audited its China research capabilities in its effort to understand what is needed to underpin a successful relationship. The UK needs a similar audit of its research capabilities, alongside a review of funding for research and teaching on China, and opportunities for research collaboration with China.
The Integrated Review refresh has created space to be more strategic about such issues. We now need to get smarter about research cooperation and research on China to support effective engagement.
Lewis Husain, James Keeley and Jing Gu are at the Institute of Development Studies