from Hacker News

China leads world in 57 of 64 critical technologies; up from 3 just 20 years ago

by yablak on 9/21/24, 4:20 AM with 20 comments

  • by breerbgoat on 9/21/24, 7:02 AM

    Not this again.

    The ASPI methodology is to use algorithms to count journal citations to determine who is "ahead". They don't directly examine the state of the technology. That's not to say that the conclusion, at least broadly speaking, is necessarily wrong, but journal citations don't directly translate into implementable technology.

    It does make for great headlines however, which are free publicity for ASPI and whatever agenda they might be pushing.

  • by abstractanimal on 9/21/24, 6:31 AM

    I guess there is a "that which is seen vs. that which is not seen" (Bastiat) argument to be made, but government investment into engineering research seems to be a pretty good deal.

    I saw a quote the other day I liked: "If the rest of the world wants to emulate the US model, they should do as the United States actually did, not as they say they did".

    - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Entrepreneurial_State

  • by ChrisArchitect on 9/21/24, 2:20 PM

    Related:

    China Is Rapidly Becoming a Leading Innovator in Advanced Industries

    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41562321

  • by toomuchtodo on 9/21/24, 4:21 AM

  • by drunkenmagician on 9/21/24, 4:59 AM

    Seems very focused on academic metrics which skews the results somewhat I think. But still interesting results.

  • by dyauspitr on 9/21/24, 5:27 AM

    Can’t beat the technical progress and efficiency that comes from a benevolent dictatorship. China is going to run away with it over the next decade and it’s going to suck because it will normalize whatever hellish authoritarianism they have going on over there.

  • by namaria on 9/21/24, 6:48 AM

    What this report is telling me is there's fierce competition for relevance in STEM field paper publication across a wide range of interests.

    That is very good.

  • by yarg on 9/21/24, 5:13 AM

    Do they?

    This is about research and papers published - but Chinese academia is amongst the most corrupt in the world, so without the technologies being utilised (or at least peer reviewed by more trustworthy people) this really doesn't mean all that much.

    Honestly, if the Chinese were that far ahead they wouldn't depend on industrial espionage to the extent that they do.