Among a series of reports featuring China's science and technology development carried by China Youth Daily, the following article is an interview with Wang Chunfa, deputy director of Chinese Association for Science of Science and S&T Policy (CASTP).
China Led the World in Sci-tech Field before 16th Century
Reporter: almost all world-renowned scientists on our lips, such as Einstein and Newton, are from western countries. Almost no such big names can found in China, the most populous country in the world. Is that Chinese people is not as clever as westerners? Or there are other reasons?
Wang: there is a saying in the western world that China is actually a country of inventions. China maintained a sci-tech level much higher than most of other countries until the 16th century. Unfortunately, after that it gradually fell behind western countries.
"Cultural Revolution" Greatly Damaged Sci-tech Human Resources
Reporter: then why after so many years it's still very difficult for us to catch up with western countries?
Wang: Mr. Qian Xuesen once said that we did a right thing in developing the 'two bombs and one satellite' (A-bomb, H-bomb and man made earth satellite) in the 60s, but made a big mistake in ignoring microelectronics in the 70s. This is of course a remark from a technological point of view. Our another big loss is caused by the "Cultural Revolution", during which the exaggeration of "reformation" on sci-tech personnel did a great harm to human resources.
A Nation Becomes a World Sci-tech Center When Its Sci-tech Documents Take up a Quarter of the World Total
Reporter: is there an acknowledged method to decide whence the world sci-tech center? Or, why we all admit that the US is a world sci-tech center?
Wang: yes, there is. It is said that once a nation's documents on science and technology accounts for over 25 percent of the world total at the time, it becomes a world sci-tech center.
Before the 16th century China used to be a very developed country with rich scientific documents and inventions. So we can say China was then at the central stage of the world science and technology.
Reporter: what difficulties must we overcome if we want to "return" to the central stage?
Wang: first we must have a perfect incentive mechanism to make people willing to make scientific studies. Secondly we should have enough fund to support these scientific studies. Thirdly, a strong industrial foundation is needed to put theoretical results into operation and form a good cycle. Fourthly, we must keep close contacts with current world centers and we also need a comparatively stable and lenient environment.
China Needs 50 to 100 Years to Achieve Its Goal
Reporter: How long do you think China would take to return to its former position as a world sci-tech center?
Wang: it won't be long judging from the current world environment, and I think it should be in 50 to 100 years. According to Chinese economists, the absolute value of China's GDP would catch up with that of the US by 2050, which will serve as an economic foundation for our scientific development.
On the other hand, now we have opening up policy, which encourages frequent academic exchanges with developed countries. As a result we can at least get to know the latest developments in the world and make correct decisions on the orientation in selecting subjects for research and study so as to avoid being led astray in the whole course.
(People's Daily August 21, 2002)
