Expiration of major US-China science treaty signals deep uncertainty amid high tensions

Landmark deal dating to 1979 is said to shield American researchers working in mainland but critics counter Beijing is exploiting its terms

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Washington’s concerns about how Beijing uses the US-China Science and Technology Agreement have held up its renewal. Photo: Shutterstock

Holly ChikandKhushboo Razdanin Washington

Published: 6:37am, 30 Aug 2024Updated: 10:05pm, 30 Aug 2024

A key US-China science and technology treaty has expired with little apparent evidence of progress following a year of delay fuelled by American apprehensions over how China has benefited from the decades-old pact.

Renewal of the US-China Science and Technology Agreement (STA), the first bilateral deal signed between the two countries in 1979, had been postponed twice since August 2023. The most recent six-month extension expired on Tuesday.

A State Department official on Thursday said on background: “I don’t have anything additional to share at this time.”

This followed word by the same official a day earlier that the two sides were “in communication” about the STA “including on the necessary guardrails around any such cooperation, strengthened provisions for transparency and scientific-data reciprocity”.

“The United States remains committed to advancing and protecting US interests in science and technology,” the State Department official added. “We have nothing further to share about the status of the agreement at this time.”

A key US-China science cooperation deal is about to end

Late on Thursday, the Chinese embassy in Washington said China and the US were maintaining communication on the issue. “We don’t have further comments on this,” a spokesperson said in response to an inquiry.