WASHINGTON — (AP) — The U.S. has updated a decades-old science and technology agreement with China to reflect their growing rivalry for technological dominance. The new agreement, signed Friday in Beijing after many months of negotiations, has a narrower scope and additional safeguards to minimize the risk to national security.
The State Department said the agreement sustains intellectual property protections, establishes new guardrails to protect the safety and security of researchers and “advances U.S. interests through newly established and strengthened provisions on transparency and data reciprocity.”
It covers only basic research and does not facilitate the development of critical and emerging technologies, the department said. This includes technologies related to artificial intelligence and quantum computing, which are considered crucial for economic strength and military supremacy.
China’s science and technology ministry also announced the signing, but provided no details or assessment in its one-line statement. The Chinese foreign ministry said earlier this year that such cooperation is …