Discovered In China

There is hardly a piece of hardware, an electronic gadget or clothing that does not boast “Made In China”. Soon scientific and technical journals will recount new discoveries labeled “Discovered In China”.

A recent article in the New York Times, “China Drawing High-Tech Research From U.S.” highlights the growing tendency of American corporations, the likes of Applied Materials, Intel and General Motors who already have manufacturing facilities in China, to establish advanced technology research labs there also, thus aiding China to develop a high-tech economy that increasingly competes directly with the United States.

Chinese universities churn out engineers with master’s degrees who can be hired for $730 a month. This is not lost on Western companies, providing a further incentive to do their technology research in China. If that were not enough, many Chinese cities and regions offer the companies subsidies which are becoming increasingly rare at home.

The United States became a power by making things. It became a superpower through its research and development facilities. Our manufacturing facilities are slowly rusting away. How long before our R&D becomes second rate? How long before our supply of scientific and engineering graduates dries up? How long before corporations start moving their headquarters to China? How long before our service economy relegates us to an ex-superpower? How long before we need to start learning Chinese as a second language? Exaggeration? Yes, but I hope that somewhere in our complex bureaucracy someone is trying to come up with ways of preserving our ability to innovate and manufacture. McDonald and Wal-Mart jobs should not be our future.