Hong Kong should capitalise on the opportunities arising from US-China tensions to attract more talent to its academic and tech sectors, heads of the city’s top medical schools have said, ahead of a visit to the world’s largest biotechnology event in Boston. Representatives from the medical faculties of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) and the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) will join the delegation of the government-funded Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) attending BIO 2025 between June 16 and 19. The event is reportedly the largest globally for the biotechnology industry. Responding to whether the worsening US-China rivalry had affected their work, Professor Wallace Lau Chak-sing, dean of medicine at HKU, said the tensions had instead provided incentives for talent to join Hong Kong’s institutions. “We continue to have many experts from the US supporting our work in our school of biomedical engineering. We also have an international advisory board in which many of the advisers are experienced professors from the US,” he said. “We should not be too worried about the situation. We should take advantage of different circumstances to attract talent.” US President Donald Trump had earlier barred the entry of foreign nationals seeking to study or participate in exchange programmes at Harvard University, as part of his crackdown on the Ivy League school. But the move was later blocked by a judge under a temporary restraining order. In May, his administration also announced the country would begin “aggressively” revoking visas of Chinese students and “enhance scrutiny” of all future applicants from China, including Hong Kong. But Chinese President Xi Jinping and Trump agreed to reverse the measure, among others, after a much-anticipated phone call. Trump has also slashed research funding and terminated numerous federally funded research projects, particularly those supported by the US National Institutes of Health. A survey by leading international academic journal Nature found up to 75 per cent of American scientists were considering leaving the US, with many expressing the desire to find job opportunities abroad. Lau said he believed that academics from the US and Europe continued to express their interest in developing their careers at the city’s universities. “It is not just about politics. Hong Kong does have many advantages such as our economic freedom, tax system, legal system, the intersection between the East and the West, and connection with mainland China,” he said. “Additionally, we can make use of the occasional political volatility and turn it into something positive to attract talent.” Professor Philip Chiu Wai-yan, CUHK’s medical faculty dean, agreed with Lau, saying that political circumstances would be “ever-changing”. “I believe renowned universities from around the world also need to adapt to changing circumstances,” he said. But Chiu said it did not necessarily mean that Hong Kong would have overwhelming advantages over US institutions, which would also find ways to retain talent. “We, of course, have to seize opportunities. Even if we cannot secure certain talent, we will not rule out the possibility of collaborating with excellent US institutions after forming a friendship with them,” he said. “The most important thing is we have to extend a hand of friendship and tell them about our advantages. Even if they do not come to Hong Kong, we can collaborate with them.” The HKSTP will lead a delegation of 16 life and health technology companies, including those established by the two universities, to BIO 2025 in Boston, Massachusetts. Ye Bin, one of the delegation members, is the founder and CEO of Decode Cure, which developed solutions to monitor and predict trends in Covid-19, influenza and antibiotic resistance through sewage water testing. Ye said he believed Hong Kong was in a “very unique” position amid the US-China tensions. “We have been approached by many people. They would rather collaborate with us to try to avoid conflict in the political situation,” he said. “In addition, Hong Kong has a unique situation that can connect other countries and mainland China.” Jin Xia, CEO and co-founder of Immuno Cure BioTech Limited, said the geopolitical situation had made it very difficult for Hong Kong biotech companies to raise money, but this had changed under Trump’s second term. His company develops DNA medicines and antibody immunotherapies for treating infectious diseases, inflammation and cancer. “This is definitely an opportunity, if the US had not suppressed Qian Xuesen and he had not returned to China, China’s aerospace and missiles would not have developed to what they are today,” he said, referring to the rocket scientist who was deported to China in 1955. “When the US is driving a large number of talent away, it is a great opportunity especially for Hong Kong, and we must not miss the chance to seize this influx.” Albert Wong Hak-keung, CEO of the HKSTP, said the universities could showcase their research achievements to the world at the convention and get to know international investors, which could help translate their inventions into real-world applications. They could also learn what could be done so that their research could be adopted in the US and align with its medical system, he added.