David Zweig is a social scientist and emeritus professor of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. His new book, The War for Chinese Talent in America: the Politics of Technology and Knowledge in Sino-U.S. Relations, explains the origins of the current conflict between China and the U.S. over the knowledge imbued within China-born academics and researchers who have chosen to settle in America. In this edited transcript of a recent interview, we discuss his sharp criticisms both of t