Singaporean media says strained U.S-China ties effect academic exchanges

SINGAPORE, May 13 (Xinhua) -- Strained U.S.-China ties have taken a toll on China scholarship in America and curtailed the ease with which U.S. students and scholars can visit and become familiar with the Chinese mainland, according to a recent article published in Singapore's English-language newspaper The Straits Times.

"The Chinese now have a much better understanding of how Americans think about issues than we have about how Chinese think," the article titled "China scholarship in the U.S. takes a hit from strained ties" quoted U.S. retired veteran diplomat Stapleton Roy as saying.

U.S. national security concerns about so-called "academic espionage," especially in the hard sciences, the overall hardening of attitudes in America against China and rising anti-Asian sentiments have contributed to discouraging some Chinese from pursuing their higher education in America, said the article published Monday.

The geopolitical environment has also caused Chinese scholars and students in America, scientists in particular, to be treated with suspicion, said the article.

"This idea that all that China does is to send students to the U.S. to study hard sciences and steal our secrets is a wild distortion of reality," the paper quoted Roy as saying.