Academic Conference Participation Involved in U.S. Political Manipulation: Chinese Association for Science and Technology Issues Statement
The Chinese Association for Science and Technology issued a statement on March 27:
1. Starting from March 27, 2026, the Chinese Association for Science and Technology will cease accepting applications for funding to attend the 2026 NeurIPS conference. All such applications will be redirected to domestic academic conferences or to international conferences that respect the rights of Chinese scholars, uphold principles of openness and cooperation, adhere to academic ethics, and demonstrate outstanding academic influence.
2. Papers accepted by this year’s NeurIPS conference will not be recognized as representative achievements for any project application under the Chinese Association for Science and Technology. However, the academic impact assigned to Chinese scholars’ papers through evaluation by relevant national academic societies based on academic standards will be fully acknowledged by our association.
Science and Technology Daily published an editorial article titled "Academic Conferences Should Not Become Tools for Political Manipulation" on March 27.
It pointed out that recently, the international academic conference NeurIPS (Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems), in its call for papers for the 2026 event, excluded a list of institutions placed on the U.S. “Entity List” from submission eligibility. This politicization of academic exchange has triggered widespread skepticism and strong opposition across the global academic community.
In response, the China Computer Federation has issued a solemn statement, firmly opposing the erroneous practice of politicizing academia. Scholars both at home and abroad have also voiced strong condemnation, with multiple researchers publicly announcing their refusal to serve as area chairs for this year’s NeurIPS, taking concrete actions to defend the principle of academic neutrality. We urge the NeurIPS organizers to recognize the harm caused, immediately correct course, and call upon all scholars and organizations worldwide who uphold academic integrity to join hands in resisting the trend of politicizing scholarship, steadfastly maintaining the original mission of academic neutrality. Only when academia returns to its true essence and exchanges transcend barriers can scientific innovation truly benefit the world and serve humanity.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1860784431441992/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.