To the moon and back, Chinese R&D is leaving the US behind

<To the moon and back, Chinese R&D is leaving the US behind>

The writer, Matthew Slaughter, is dean of the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.

...... On the first morning of December, the Arecibo radio telescope of the US National Science Foundation in Puerto Rico collapsed. In seconds, the instrument’s 900-tonne constellation of radio receivers and girders crashed into the massive radio dish hundreds of feet below. Since its completion in 1963, Arecibo has been among the world’s most powerful radars. It anchored earth’s search for extraterrestrial life; its examination of the heavens contributed to foundational discoveries and Nobel Prizes. But there are no current plans for its rebuilding or replacement.

That same day, but on the moon, China landed a spacecraft. The Chang’e-5 spent two days gathering lunar dirt and rocks before planting and unfurling a Chinese flag, and then blasting off. On Sunday, it docked flawlessly in the moon’s orbit with its return-journey vehicle...

Once upon a time, the US government invested heavily in research. US federal R&D spending surged after the Soviets launched Sputnik, peaking in 1965 at 11.7 per cent of federal spending and at 2.2 per cent of gross domestic product. Frontier discoveries from that time led to the internet and GPS, the global navigation system.... In constant dollars, Nasa spending had fallen by more than half by the early 1970s; it has been flat ever since. By 2019, total federal R&D spend constituted just 2.8 per cent of all federal spending and just 0.6 per cent of GDP — the lowest in over 60 years.

Meanwhile, Chinese investment in research has surged. In launching its “Made in China 2025” plan five years ago, Beijing created more than 900 innovation funds that collectively planned nearly $350bn of new R&D investments. This year, the US National Science Foundation’s biennial review reported that from 2000 through 2017, Chinese R&D spending grew at an average annual rate of around 17 per cent. This left the US increasingly “seen globally as an important leader rather than the uncontested leader” with China “rapidly closing the innovation gap.” Indeed, an NSF official commented at a press briefing that preliminary 2019 data suggests that China has now surpassed the US in total R&D spending.

Great nations summon the will to invest in tomorrow even during their darkest todays. In the spring of 1862, the US Civil War was widening in scope and horror. Yet on May 5, Vermont senator Justin Smith Morrill reintroduced the Land-Grant Agricultural and Mechanical College Act.....

Amid the tragedy of the pandemic, the world’s two great economic superpowers continue to clash with each other in a trade war and other skirmishes. But last week, as the scientists of one nation mourned the collapse of one of its signature instruments, scientists of the other celebrated the prospect of discoveries soon to come. Will history view that moment as a harbinger?   (End of essay )

The Last paragraph in Chinese：
在大疫情的悲劇中，世界兩個經濟超級大國繼續在貿易戰和其他方面相互衝突( I have to say it is the US who was the first one launching  the attacks and had no grounds ) 。但上週，當其中一國的科學家為其標誌性儀器坍塌而哀傷時，另一國的科學家卻在歡慶展望不久將會到來的新發現。歷史地看來，這會不會是某種先兆？To me, definitely, that moment is a harbinger, and at this  moment, Chang'e-5 returner has brought the  lunar samples safely back to its motherland - the Earth...

S. L. LI  Engineer
HKFDP

香港建設專業聯會

** 博客文章文責自負,不代表本公司立場 **

偶上某登（本港著名網上平臺），見一貼文，有提倡香港行民族自決之嫌。

作者舉蘇聯時代的愛沙尼亞和蘇俄兩國的關係，和現時的中港關係作類比。作者認爲：身爲加盟國的愛沙尼亞可以根據蘇聯修憲違反《經濟，社會及文化權利國際公約》所述之民族自決權利，自動獨立。而現今香港也可跟隨愛沙尼亞，根據《公約》自動獨立（《基本法》第39條有規定《經濟、社會與文化權利的國際公約》適用於香港》。作者還特別指出，他觀點的高明之處是愛沙尼亞和香港都是在社會主義政體下存在，故具可行性。

首先，文章的類比是錯誤的。

蘇聯全名：蘇維埃社會主義共和國聯邦
中國全名：中華人民共和國

單單是名字都已見 蘇聯是聯邦制，中國不是聯邦制，是單一制。

用聯邦制的成員邦和聯邦各有主權的關係。去替換單一制下，中央和地方關係，授權及被授權的關係，及單一制下國家主權只屬於中央的事實。香港若依文章的類比，豈不升格為“國家”？

不知道作者是否故意“糊塗”，《基本法》規定香港是中國的一個地方行政區域。翻開《基本法》第2頁，第4頁，白紙黑字寫明香港是中國不可分離的部分（第一條）；香港特區是中國的一個享有高度自治權的地方行政區域，直轄於中央人民政府。（第十二條）。（第十二條可視爲對第一條的具體規定和説明）

第二個槽點，文中認為《公約》的民族自決權利適用於香港。
事實是，香港在1970年代已被移出「殖民地名單」，因為聯合國同意香港自古以來是中國的領土，只不過被英國用武力強佔，既然不是殖民地，是主權國家的領土，就不存在「民族自決」的選項。故自97前，對於《公約》，只有「部分適用」的條款在香港實施。在97後，也可見《基本法》的相關規定：

「第三十九條 ：《公民權利和政治權利國際公約》、《經濟、 社會與文化權利的國際公約》和國際勞工公約適用於香港的有關 規定繼續有效，通過香港特別行政區的法律予以實施。」（文章作者有斷章取義之嫌。）

文章通篇妖言惑衆，以偷換概念，活用類比的方式包裝錯誤的觀點。對《基本法》，《憲法》欠瞭解者，頗容易就中了“邪”。

煽惑人心的觀點能在年輕人中大行其道絕不是“無源之水”“無根之木”。有賴無用政棍標簽鮮明的“敵人”（反中），標榜“偉光正”的目標理想（民主光復香港）。我們不少滿懷壯志，滿腔熱誠的年輕人瞬間被這些“理想”俘虜。登上愚蠢政棍實現愚蠢政治理想的戰車上，衝擊一國兩制，最終車毀人亡。
政治不是過家家，不是打機打“爆機”，不是在電腦前玩戰略游戲看著己方以萬計的性命消失而無任何感覺，輸了便輕鬆“讀檔再來”。

行成于思毀於隨，所謂“義士“們，也請您們拷問自己的良心，到底在做什麽？求同存異才是正道，企圖破壞一國兩制，妄圖動搖十四億人民的前途幸福均是極度不智的。

如果香港會亡，不會因香港以外而亡。而是亡於内，亡在作這類文章的好事之人手上。

王其宇  香港大學學生
香港建設專業聯會青年部理事