According to a report from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, China is leading research into future technology, laying the groundwork for overtaking the United States to become the world’s scientific powerhouse (ASPI). English version released this Thursday.
According to ASPI’s assessment, China outperforms the United States and other nations in 37 of the 44 essential technologies for innovation and growth, including artificial intelligence, robotics, biotechnology, quantum technology, defence, and space exploration.
A report titled “ASPI Key Technology Tracker: A Global Powerhouse of the Future” made the claim that China had “positioned itself to succeed in practically all areas of present technological development, as well as in future technologies that do not yet exist.”
The authors of the paper urged “people countries” to improve cooperation and boost research incentives in order to block Beijing’s access to vital network technologies.
The Chinese Communist Party, they claim, “uses coercive measures outside the global normative system to penalise the government and corporations, particularly those linked to technology closure.”
The report claims that ASPI has examined 2.2 million scholarly works and identified the top 10% of highly regarded research publications across 44 technological areas.
While other nations are further behind in every category, the United States is the global leader in research in 7 of the 44 technologies where China is not the market leader, notably computer design and development, vaccines, semiconductor development and design, and computers.
In terms of the European Union (EU), the report has a competitive edge because of the ease with which researchers can move around the Schengen region, the existence of eminent institutions like the Delft University of Technology in Belgium, and the EU’s technological prowess.
Spain and Turkey, for example, “are frequently in the top 10 countries, but not in the top five,” ASPI notes.
Research from Spain can be found in subfields including biofuels, enhanced radio frequency, biological manufacturing, photonic navigation sensors, and integrated circuits.
While in the Americas, Chile only appears in the subfields of explosives and advanced energy materials, while Brazil and Mexico are listed under the headings of biofuel, biological manufacturing, critical minerals, and advanced analytics.
Additionally, China’s universities draw more students, and seven of the world’s top ten research centres for cutting-edge aircraft engines, including hypersonics, are located in China.
The authors do concede that, as has been the case with certain Beijing-born aero-engineering experts, acute research does not necessarily result in development and manufacture.
The United States is also unique in the creation of artificial intelligence technology like ChatGPT, thanks to big businesses like Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise.
According to the research, China seems to be making progress and has realised that it is completely dependent on US and Swedish businesses for the precision-grade stainless steel needed for bearings in high-performance aviation engines.
“China’s good research achievement in this field probably reflects the (Communist Party of China) CCP’s prioritisation and investment in overcoming the reliability and choke-point challenges of previous years.”
The report’s authors stated that the conclusions should serve as “a wake-up call for democratic nations.”
To “bridge the vast and expanding gap,” they advocated for immediate policy adjustments, additional investment, and international cooperation from many nations.
“Catch-up expenses will be high, but the price of inaction could be far higher.” EFE
China, the second country after South Korea, has opted to roll out 5G technology starting in 2020 and has already started building the necessary infrastructure. On the military front, China is exploring air, land, sea, and underwater autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles that can aid in reconnaissance and strikes on adversary aircraft and boats. China has advanced in AI in terms of facial and image recognition, producing drones and robots. The Chinese army is attempting to utilise developments in quantum radar and sensing to its advantage. Its navy is working to create a quantum compass for its submarines so that they can navigate without using satellites.
In order to transform the nation from a production line for low tech manufactured goods into the leading economic and technological power producing high tech goods, Beijing has recently invested billions of dollars in developing the civilian and military applications of emerging technologies such as 5G, semiconductors, microchips, artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing, and others.
Although China has made remarkable strides in utilising a number of applications, it is premature and overstated to say that China will soon be the global leader in these technologies. Significant Chinese investments haven’t always resulted in scientific breakthroughs. Yet, given our competitive strategic partnership, India must pay attention to China’s advancements in key technology.
China, the second country after South Korea, has opted to roll out 5G technology starting in 2020 and has already started building the necessary infrastructure. On the military front, China is exploring air, land, sea, and underwater autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles that can aid in reconnaissance and strikes on adversary aircraft and boats. China has advanced in AI in terms of facial and image recognition, producing drones and robots. The Chinese army is attempting to utilise developments in quantum radar and sensing to its advantage. Its navy is working to create a quantum compass for its submarines so that they can navigate without using satellites.
The Chinese story in transistors and microchips has so far included more failures than wins. Since the 1990s, it has invested billions of dollars in several companies in an effort to design and manufacture its own chips, but these efforts have largely failed. China imports over 80% of its microchip needs; in 2017, it spent more on semiconductor and chip imports than on crude oil, totaling $260 billion. It is estimated that China will take around 20 years to catch up to the current levels of chip specialisation in the West, despite its relentless pursuit of foreign technologies through outright purchases, joint ventures, stealth, and local innovation.
American and other non-Chinese researchers and businesses deserve a lot of the credit for China’s advances in AI. More than half of China’s AI papers were foreign collaborative publications, according to a Tsinghua University research. The American branch of DJI, a Chinese drone manufacturer, handles all software development. China’s dominance in AI applications is largely offset by its continued weakness in basic AI technologies like hardware and algorithm development.
Several issues in quantum computing are still unanswered, such as mastering the usage of materials, manufacturing quantum chips, and developing a working quantum computer, which will take some time. From this point forward, a variety of reasons will slow the advancement of these technologies. Leading Chinese businesses are now being barred from entering the US market, Chinese students are now subject to restrictions while attending US universities to study robotics, aerospace, semiconductors, and quantum computing, and the US is pleading with its allies and friends to forbid Chinese businesses from operating in their nations for reasons of national security.
Yet, China has made significant strides in creating a number of uses of these technologies that will affect our economy, defence, and foreign policy relative to India. A much more powerful and aggressive China, whose economy is now five times larger than ours, will have to coexist with India.
With new weapons in cyberwarfare, missiles, drone and robot technologies, space, stealth, and quantum technology based platforms, its military will become even more difficult. India is now investing and conducting research in these technologies at a very early stage, much behind China.
To protect our vital interests, our political leadership, military establishment, academic and scientific institutions, and industry must collaborate and design an appropriate plan to jointly develop some applications at a quick clip.
If we fall behind too much, India’s place in the regional and global power structures would be marginalised, and its economic and military strength will continue to decline.
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