![]() ![]() Such statements are also unlikely to clarify confusion I have encountered during fieldwork in China regarding the legal boundaries around academic entrepreneurship. Not only has this idealized scientific identity rarely existed in reality, it is also seemingly at odds with academic entrepreneurship and the start-up culture that has been at the core of high-tech industries like biotechnology. It is worth noting, however, that the image of the scientist in Xi’s speech was that of a disinterested seeker and arbiter of truth, coveting neither fame nor wealth, and selflessly placing collective and national interests before all else. Both thus explicitly called for increased social status and professional autonomy for researchers. At their core, both speeches were entreaties to potentially skeptical researchers, imploring scientists to work with the state in its goals of social development and scientific policymaking and heralding their previous achievements. They endorsed notions of “scientific” policymaking and the integration of science and technology into governance, seemingly hoping to imbue political decisions with a sense of objectivity.Ĭentral to realizing these dreams of advancement, affluence, equity, and “scientific” governance, however, is the cultivation of human capital. Both Deng and Xi grappled with the seeming contradiction between preserving the central role of the state in technological development and giving rein to individual institutions and private enterprises. ![]() Both speeches promoted science as an engine of economic growth and social stability, and emphasized the national imperative of improving technologies tied to agriculture, industry, and defense-priorities since Deng first adopted the “four modernizations” as explicit state goals. Xi Jinping’s speech this month at the Scientists’ Forum echoed Deng’s speech not only in terms of its content and and its venue, but also in terms of its scientism, its nationalism, its struggle to navigate tensions within Chinese society and the party-state itself, and its anxious desire to shepherd in a new era of Chinese innovation and prosperity. Ultimately, Deng’s speech was an appeal to a skeptical scientific audience to re-engage with the state, an effort to legitimize the market reforms by linking the national interest with technological advancement, and a deeply scientistic narrative, framing science and technology as a panacea for all of China’s social ills and political woes. Third, it signaled that a technocratic party-state would embrace expertise, pinning its legitimacy on development and “scientific objectivity,” rather than Mao-era ideologies. Second, it set out Deng’s new vision of China as a modernized, prosperous society driven forward by scientific and technological advancement. First, it sought to welcome scientists and other technical experts back into the party-state fold, endow them with professional freedom and social status, and align their personal interests with those of the state. Balancing an ongoing commitment to Marxist socialism with a desire to distance his administration from the chaos and trauma of the Cultural Revolution, Deng’s speech served three goals. More than four decades before Xi Jinping gave his “ Speech at a Scientists’ Forum” this month, Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping gave his 1978 “ Speech at the Opening Ceremony of the National Conference on Science” that ushered in a new era not only for scientists, but also for the party-state and its claims to legitimacy. Xi Echoes and Updates a Historic 1978 Deng Xiaoping Speech to Scientists They describe the speech as a both doubling down on and adjusting the direction of longstanding efforts to strike the right balance between state control and S&T vitality, and they note the ways the 2020 context sets China's situation apart from an earlier seminal speech by Deng Xiaoping in 1978. To understand the significance of Xi's message, DigiChina asked a range of specialists for their thoughts on the historical, policy, and international context for the speech. DigiChina has translated the speech in full. ![]() 11, 2020, Xi spoke to a gathering of scientists and technology workers and delivered a message on the Chinese government's and the Communist Party's relationship with scientific and technological (S&T) development. In recent years, he has emphasized "indigenous innovation" in "core technologies" at a time when tensions with the United States have put China's access to key components in question. Like his predecessors, Chinese leader Xi Jinping's speeches to high-level gatherings are often occasions for significant signaling about the government's priorities and plans, not least in the area of cyberspace and advanced technology. ![]()
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