STA On A Six-Months Extension

The recent decision of the White House to extend the Science and Technology Agreement (STA) by six months and to commit to renegotiating its terms was the right choice.  I noted in my recent blog that the issue should never have been whether to extend but rather how to improve the agreement and better manage the relationship, including by addressing newly emerging IP issues such as recent changes in China’s tech transfer regime, the protection of biometric data, ethical challenges, use of genetic resources, leveraging open source collaboration, improving protections for IP, and better monitoring of the STA’s accomplishments.

The decision was first reported by NBC News and has been welcomed by the Chinese Embassy.  The State Department noted that the US will “undertake negotiations [with China] to amend and strengthen the terms in the next six months.”  The Chinese Embassy also indicated that the US side was conducting an internal review of the STA.

Continuing the agreement also helps avoid disruptions from any suspension in long-term projects. The renewal comes at the same time when US-China science collaboration as reflected in co-authored scientific papers has dropped for the first time in 28 years, according to a report from Japan’s Ministry of Education.   A modern, renewed STA would further stimulate the higher quality research that comes from cross-border collaboration and could also provide a template for universities, the private sector, and other countries on their collaboration with China.