NYT: Chinese Cryptologists Get Invitations to US Conference, but No Visas

[DeepModem Mom]

Chinese Cryptologists Get Invitations to a U.S. Conference, but No Visas
By JOHN MARKOFF
Published: August 17, 2005


SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 16 - Last year a Chinese mathematician, Xiaoyun Wang, shook up the insular world of code breakers by exposing a new vulnerability in a crucial American standard for data encryption. On Monday, she was scheduled to explain her discovery in a keynote address to an international group of researchers meeting in California.

But a stand-in had to take her place, because she was not able to enter the country. Indeed, only one of nine Chinese researchers who sought to enter the country for the conference received a visa in time to attend.

Although none of the scientists were officially denied visas by the United States Consulate, officials at the State Department and National Academy of Sciences said this week that the situation was not uncommon.

Lengthy delays in issuing visas are now routine, they said, particularly for those involved in sensitive scientific and technical fields.

The visa snag angered organizers of the annual meeting of the International Cryptology Conference, who argued that restrictions originally created to prevent the transfer of advanced technologies from the United States are now having the opposite effect....


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/17/business/worldbusiness/17code.html

[htuttle]

1. Too bad she wasn't from Saudi Arabia

They would have been let in.

Of course, I doubt there is any such thing as a professional female cryptologist in Saudi Arabia. At least not legally.

[tanyev]

2. The Bush administration has an incomparable flair for

pissing people off, both here and abroad. Maybe they should change their mantra. "We don't care! We don't care!" isn't working too well.

[Southpaw Bookworm]

3. We're closing ourselves off

To the rest of the world, bit by bit, and the U.S. is going to pay for that ignorance for a century or more.

Foreign scholars and scientists are finding it nearly impossible to accept fellowships in the United States -- there have been several cases since 2001 of famous experts who have had to turn down prestigious appointments at major universities because the government would not approve their visa or deliberately held up the process. Same problem for international students wanting to study here.

Meanwhile, American students will be even less exposed to foreign cultures and ideas, and more parochial in their attitudes. They will be ignorant of historical events outside U.S. borders and what more will wear their ignorance like a badge. And thus you get folks in power like George Bush, who was proud to admit he'd never been out of the country before he was president. That ignorance will lead to further misguided and disastrous policy decisions.

[DBoon]

4. This conference has considered moving out of the US

just for this reason. There were serious problems in 2004 with foreign participants getting visas.

[natrat]

5. theocratic oligachy

science verboten

[wli]

6. this sort of thing happens with kernel programming, too