There is a spin on the old joke about politics in Washington: If you can’t solve a problem, create a committee. If that doesn’t work, set up a hotline. The latest punch line is: if the hotline fails, blame it on China.

This sorry state of affairs is exemplified by the United States House Select Committee on China, which stooped to a new low on Tuesday when it asked US students, postdoctoral researchers and academics to report cases in which they believe they were denied research opportunities in favor of applicants from China. In effect, the committee is encouraging them to become McCarthyist informants in a competition over who gets to work in US laboratories and research institutes.

The public reaction has been skeptical, even scathing. One respondent asked whether universities are really choosing “less qualified” Chinese applicants over US citizens. Another dismissed the appeal as “ignorant jingoism”. Someone else bluntly asked: “Is enforcing racism the mission statement of the Select Committee on China?”

The committee has overlooked the fact that the US didn’t build Silicon Valley, Boston’s biotech corridor or its world-class universities by checking passports.........

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