{"text":[[{"start":0.5,"text":"The writer is a science commentator"}],[{"start":27.64,"text":"The Dong Fang Hong 3 is the world’s largest “silent” research ship, supposedly able to glide through water without disturbing fish swimming just 20 metres below it. Equipped with laboratories and the ability to lay sensors, the 103-metre vessel is owned and operated by the Ocean University of China and has spent the past two years mapping the ocean floor."}],[{"start":34.92,"text":"But, according to a Reuters analysis last month, the vessel — along with others — is collecting subterranean data that could confer a military advantage in the event of underwater warfare. Charting the subsea terrain could point to possible hiding places for submarines, as well as unmask underwater vessels operated by adversaries."}],[{"start":57.48,"text":"The Reuters investigation shows that, as with much cutting-edge science, oceanographic research is dual-use, of both civilian and military value; and that sensitive applications can be hiding in plain sight, in papers written for scientific journals. But the analysis speaks to a broader picture of China quietly gaining geopolitical strength and strategic advantage through science and technology, to an extent that few truly grasp."}],[{"start":86.24,"text":"Take the Chinese cut-price AI model DeepSeek, which suddenly emerged last January. It stunned observers, challenged American AI dominance and wiped billions off the chipmaker Nvidia’s fortunes. As China prioritises domestic innovation in its future development plans, its reputation as a taker of other people’s ideas, rather than a maker, may need updating."}],[{"start":110.88,"text":"Reuters examined articles in Chinese state media, scientific journals and government press releases, and used ship-tracking data, to conclude that the tight, back-and-forth pattern traced by multiple China-registered ships in the Arctic, Pacific and Indian oceans constituted likely evidence of mapping. Naval experts told Reuters that while the mapping might be relevant to fishing interests and mineral prospecting, it would also be valuable military intel. China’s policy of “civil-military fusion” means that civilian and scientific efforts are inevitably entwined with the country’s political and defence objectives. The Chinese government has not commented publicly on the issue."}],[{"start":153.1,"text":"William Matthews, a defence researcher at King’s College London, told me the maritime manoeuvres exemplified a “broader pattern in China’s use of technology as a key instrument in securing geopolitical ends” but that this was not unique to China. The country, chasing self-reliance as relations with the US sour, has already remade critical mineral supply chains to its own advantage; as well as gaining a defensive edge, the actions at sea could be a jostle for first-mover advantage in seabed mining, seen by some as an extractive industry of the future."}],[{"start":192.2,"text":"In November, Kerry Brown, who directs the Lau China Institute at King’s College London, penned a commentary in Nature urging the world to “wake up to China’s scientific leadership” (The LCI has drawn criticism for taking funding from a wealthy donor with ties to the CCP). The article pointed out that China’s R&D expenditure increased sixfold between 2007 and 2023, overtaking the EU. China surpassed the US on this metric in 2024, according to the OECD, spending $1.03tn compared to the US’s $1.01tn."}],[{"start":231.28,"text":"Brown told me that China’s scientific rise — oiled, he adds, by a national industrial policy that matches academics to entrepreneurs — is still largely flying under the radar. China produced 3.6mn Stem graduates in 2020, compared with India’s 2.6mn and fewer than a million in the US. DeepSeek’s creators trained not at Stanford and MIT but at domestic universities like Zhejiang and Tsinghua, that are racing up the world rankings."}],[{"start":263.32,"text":"“People in Britain just don’t get the scale and speed and will of this movement,” Brown insists. “We’ve still got politicians here banging on about people in China wanting to pinch our ideas. Those days are over. They don’t want our stuff. Our stuff is analogue.”"}],[{"start":281.5,"text":"He expects the tables to turn: while issues like cyber espionage will remain problematic, the UK may soon covet Chinese technology in less sensitive sectors, like biotech, green tech and materials. China supplied a third of new drugs licensed by big US companies in the first quarter of 2025."}],[{"start":302.96,"text":"Its gravest foe, meanwhile, is making helpful mistakes by cutting budgets and haranguing scientists into leaving the country. The US is pivoting away from science and technology as a means of tackling global challenges, unsettling friends and allies."}],[{"start":321.32,"text":"Actually, it is less a pivot and more a spectacular abdication of global scientific leadership — while China quietly sails into the top spot."}],[{"start":337.36,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1776228475_7280.mp3"}