Balancing act

Working with China must not result in scientists being restricted, says Erik te Roller

Over the past decade, scientific cooperation between the Netherlands and China has grown considerably. Between 2009 and 2019, the number of co-publications by Dutch and Chinese authors increased fivefold to almost 3,000, according to figures from the Lens database on scientific publications.

Initially, such cooperation seemed entirely positive, with the Netherlands sharing important knowledge with the emerging industrial state. However, China has now grown into an economic and military superpower with powerful interests of its own.