China: Nobel Dream · Global Voices
Andy Yee

This month, the Chinese press and online forums are saturated with coverage of Charles Kao’s winning of the Nobel Prize in Physics. Yet another overseas Chinese scientist has snatched the prestigious prize, this temporary moment of shared glory is quickly turned into a more profound question: when would China produce its first indigenous Nobel Prize winner?
A commentary on Xinhua describes this psychology:
每年诺奖颁布时国人总是心神难宁，一旦获奖者有华人身份，更是亢奋莫明。然而热乎不了几天，就会渐渐的冷却，乃至波澜不兴。待到来年，又如是这般，循环往复。
Every year, when the Nobel Prize winners are announced, the Chinese will become very sentimental. If a winner is of Chinese descendant, they will be very excited. But after a few days, this excitement will gradually cool down or even turn into indifference. When next year comes, this cycle will repeat.
詹晟 posted a question on an ifeng blog piece:
有人说歧视华人——诺贝尔奖的不是中国，奖的是国籍。所以华人获得诺贝尔的必要条件是“加入美国国籍”。但为何“一换国籍就获奖”?
Some people said it is a kind of discrimination against Chinese– the Nobel Prize will not be given to Chinese, it will only be given to people with a certain citizenship. Therefore, a pre-requisite for Chinese to be awarded is to become an American citizen. But why are Chinese able to get the prize once they change citizenship?
This echoes with an article on 青青草香’s sina blog:
美籍华人，美藉的“美”字是无关紧要的，关键在华人的“华”字。在媒体热情的引导下，大家觉得高锟得奖几乎就等于中国人等奖了。于是大批脆弱的心灵得以自我安慰
When we talk of an “American Chinese”, the keyword is not “American” but “Chinese”. After the fervent media reporting, we have the illusion that all Chinese are sharing the Nobel pride as well. Our fragile hearts are self-comforted.
高锟已是第八位获得诺贝尔奖的华裔了，我们在引以自豪的同时是不是也该思考这样一个尴尬的问题：为什么同是华人，在别的国家就可以培养成为诺贝尔奖获得者，在中国就不能呢？
Charles Kao is the eighth Chinese Nobel Prize winner. While we are feeling proud, should we ask the embarrassing question: why could Chinese win Nobel Prizes when they are in a foreign but not our own country?
A commentary by 丁果 on the Southern Metropolitan Weekend outlined a few structural problems of the Chinese academic environment:
中国仍然缺乏宽松自由的学术环境，这样就难以出现    的创意人才；中国缺乏进行高端研究的基础设施，或者说实验室，这使优秀的科学家，尤其是从事理论研究的华裔科学家，难以下决心回来报效祖国；中国缺乏培养创新头脑的人文环境，缺乏适合全球最优秀科学人才长期居住的社区条件，这就决定了不少优秀人才难以带领全家回来，怕耽搁了下一代的成长。
China still lacks a free academic environment, which makes it difficult to nurture innovative talents; China lacks high-end basic research facilities, which makes it hard to attract Chinese to return to their own country; China lacks the social atmosphere to nurture groundbreaking ideas and a suitable community for leading scientists to settle down for long periods.
詹晟 and 青青草香 also discussed some other disturbing realities.
詹晟 said:
看看大陆学术腐败盛行，有所谓“博导”年出书量，少则数本多则数十本。地方政府“拍脑袋”做决策，请洋智库出点子，只为“附庸风雅”。
Look at the corrupted academic environment in China. There are so-called book publication amount of PhD mentors, each ranging from a few to dozens per year. Local governments like to employ foreign consultants for advice as it is a “stylish” act.
若没有形成严谨的学术环境、科学的奖惩机制，胸前别着“人民教师”的光荣牌，照样也会耐不住寂寞纷纷投奔商海
If a rigorous academic environment and an effective reward mechanism do not exist, even with the glory of being the “People’s Teacher”, most academics will leave the circle and join the commercial world.
大可不忿地将种种学术怪现状，归为转型期中国的尴尬现实，或者商品经济大潮的强力冲击，但是否与文化和心态有关？
We can blame a transforming China or the waves of materialism as being the causes of all the irregularities. But isn't it also related to our cultures or attitudes?
青青草香 remarked:
中国是个喜欢数字、重视数字而且精于使用数字的国家。国内高校多以学术论文发表数量来评价一名教师的水平和贡献，也以发表一定数量的论文作为研究生、博士生进入毕业答辩的标准。在这种考核体系下，教师们为职称为课题为成果为奖金、学生们为答辩为毕业为今后的工作都必须大写论文。结果拼凑剽窃成风，拿来主义盛行。中国在荣登学术论文数量世界第一宝座的同时，可能还应该戴上学术泡沫和论文垃圾产量世界第一这顶桂冠
China is keen to use number. The number of published research papers is used to determine someone's academic quality, or to decide if a research student can proceed to the stage of thesis defense. Under this system, teachers and students alike have to publish a large amount of papers, with the accompanying result of widespread plagiarism. While China becomes the number one producer of academic dissertations, it may also be the number one producer of academic garbage.
在现有的教育模式和科研体制下，中国可能很难培养出真正有自由思想、有独立精神、有创新能力的科学家，因此一时半会儿要想捧回个诺贝尔奖恐非易事。
Under the current education and research system, it is difficult for China to nurture liberal, independent and innovative scientists. Producing the first indigenous Chinese Nobel Prize winner will take some time.
In the collective English blog, the Fool's Mountain, there is also a hot discussion on “What Lies between Chinese Writers and the Nobel Prize”.
[Photo taken from nobelprize.org]