"Whether the center is here or not is not important!" Professor Yang shook his head and said in his usual unhurried tone, "In the end, America was called Europe's garbage dump, a desert of civilization, and so on, but didn't it gradually become the center of the world later?"
"So even if we don't fight for the center, as long as we become strong ourselves, we can become the center of the world, and it has nothing to do with whether there is a particle collider!"
"But if we don't have a particle collider, we will always lag behind in scientific research. How can we have strong strength? Professor Yang, have you forgotten the tragedy of Professor Zhao not long ago? Such a good child, I watched him grow step by step, and even the future Institute of High Energy Physics in China might be led by him."
"But such a child died in a foreign land. Why is this? It is because we do not have a particle collider, which forces him to rent equipment from Europeans. However, the Europeans squeezed the 7-day rental period down to three days, and finally caused a fatal mistake due to excessive fatigue."
"If we had our own particle collider? Would such a tragedy still happen? Professor Yang, do you still want to see such a tragedy repeat itself?"
"Professor Wang, I understand your pain very well, and I am also very sad about the death of young Zhao. He is indeed an extremely outstanding and distinguished talent. But everyone, why was our 7-day rental period reduced to 3 days? Is it because European scientists are embezzling public funds?"
"Of course not, they are not that despicable. The reason they did this is that there is indeed not enough time, and the usage cycles cannot be arranged. Because there are a large number of outstanding scientists in high energy physics in Europe and the United States, their number is too large, which leads to insufficient cycles, so they can only cut from us!"
"And this also reflects another problem, that is, our China is still too weak in the field of high energy physics, and our own scientific researchers are too few. The real main research scholars are in Europe and the United States."
"As a result, a very regrettable fact will emerge, that is, even if we build a new generation of particle collider ourselves, we will not be able to unleash even 1% of its potential, nor can we carry out related research independently. In the end, we can only hire foreign professors and carry out research with foreign scientific researchers," Professor Yang said. xxs1
"Very good, Professor Yang has also said what I wanted to say!" Unexpectedly, Professor Wang interrupted directly, "This is actually the fundamental reason why we want to build a particle collider. We are indeed too weak in the field of high energy physics, and we cannot grow rapidly relying solely on our own strength."
"The only way is to attract the strongest and most outstanding scholars in the world to be teachers here, to conduct research here, and to use their strength to make our entire field of high energy physics strong."
"But these most outstanding talents will not come here for no reason. We need something to attract them, and that thing is the particle collider. With this equipment, we can continuously attract the best talents from all over the world to help us become stronger!"
"Let me tell you something that has always caused me great pain. Many people present know that I studied abroad and returned after completing my studies abroad."
"Many people went abroad with me at that time, but only less than half of them returned. More classmates chose to stay in the United States and Europe, and have never returned to China since then, devoting themselves to research for foreigners."
"That was in the 1970s, and it has been 40 years since then. But I see that the situation has hardly changed. Tsinghua and Peking University are our country's best universities. The students they enroll are selected through the rigorous tests of the college entrance examination, and they are the cream of our country. The future Einsteins and Newtons will be born among these students."
"But the cream of these students will definitely choose to study abroad, and more than half of them will stay in the West after going abroad to conduct research for their companies and institutions. You can try to understand that about half of the researchers in the top scientific research institutions in the West now have Chinese backgrounds. This is equivalent to the West using our talents to strengthen their scientific research."
"Why is this? Don't these children love their country? I don't know, but I know that the best scientific research equipment is in the West. The top scientific research environment is also in the West, and the most generous salary is also in the West."
"If I hadn't loved my country extremely back then, I think I would have stayed too, after all, this is the best stage for me to display my talents!"
"So we need this particle collider. Only in this way can we keep those top talents, because with this equipment, the best scientific research environment in the entire field of high energy physics will be in our own country. If you go abroad, you will never be able to use such top equipment!" Professor Wang said emotionally, with his eyes even a little moist.
Many scientific researchers present also felt empathy, and they couldn't help but sigh, because the current scientific research situation is indeed like this. Many of their excellent students have ended up staying abroad, which is also something that many of them elders feel extremely distressed about.
Leaders also nodded. They were aware of this situation, but it was not something that could be solved with a single order.
"I also deeply agree with Professor Wang's words!" Professor Yang nodded. "I believe that Professor Wang, like me, loves our country. But do other foreign scholars also love their own countries like Professor Wang?"
"Currently, the world's top scholars in high energy physics are pure foreign scholars, or they have directly joined Western nationalities, and sworn allegiance to their new countries by taking an oath on the Bible."
"I am familiar with these people. They will not sincerely work for China. They still have their own motherlands behind them, and eventually all this data will flow into the countries behind them."
"At that time, it will be equivalent to us spending a huge amount of money to build the equipment, but we will have to share the data with Europe and the United States! If these people are more malicious, and after getting the data, they don't research it here, or deliberately give some wrong research results and keep the real achievements for the countries behind them, then we will truly be the world's number one fool!"
"Professor Yang, what you said is very good, but I remember that you are still an American citizen, so which motherland do you love?" Professor Wang sneered, and the scene was immediately silent.
Professor Yang's nationality has always been his biggest problem.
Although Professor Yang had an unparalleled position in the industry, and also helped China do many things within his capabilities after the 1990s, and helped the entire field of high energy physics in China make great progress, otherwise he would not have been trusted by so many people.
But Professor Yang eventually withdrew his Chinese nationality and became an American citizen, which was a black spot he could never erase.
Professor Wang used this point to speak, which indeed made it difficult for Professor Yang to explain anything, and the more he explained, the darker it became.
However, conversely, if Professor Wang used this matter to speak, wouldn't it mean that he could no longer find any other reason to refute?
"I am Chinese! I will always be Chinese!" Unexpectedly, upon hearing Professor Wang's words, Professor Yang not only did not get angry, but said with a smile, "Everyone, let me tell you a good piece of news. A few days ago, I submitted a declaration to abandon my American nationality."
"At the same time, I have re-submitted an application for Chinese nationality. Although I am 90 years old, I am very happy to be a Chinese citizen again!" Professor Yang's words made the audience fall into silence. This was absolutely big news. Professor Yang, a Nobel laureate, actually chose to give up his coveted American nationality and return to China. What a spirit!
And with this news, Professor Wang's previous accusations naturally became worthless.
At the same time, Professor Yang coughed violently and said, "Gentlemen, it seems that my health does not allow me to say more, so I will simply finish my last few words."
"First of all, my attitude is very clear. I have never said that China should not build a particle collider, and I also tell everyone very clearly that a particle collider must be built, because high energy physics is the future of the entire Earth."
"But a particle collider should not be built now. Americans initially said it would cost 5 billion US dollars, then changed it to 20 billion US dollars, then to 100 billion US dollars, and finally the bid reached 200 billion US dollars in Congress, which made even the arrogant Americans have to give up such equipment."
"And if we build a new one, setting aside technical difficulties, even if the construction cost is much lower than that of the United States, it will still cost at least 150 to 200 billion RMB."
"But a particle collider cannot truly make our country's high energy physics develop rapidly. Because a particle collider can only discover and verify some theories. By the time these theories truly develop into technologies that can affect reality, it will be at least forty or fifty years later. For the current China, it has no practical impetus!"
"Therefore, I believe that we should invest our limited scientific research funds in other more important projects, such as nuclear fusion projects, or super-long-range cruise missile technology, etc."
"As for the particle collider, we can wait a little longer. Generally speaking, particle colliders are updated every 20 years. Every 20 years, they need to be updated."
"We will give up this generation and let others build it. When we need it, we can rent their equipment. We use this money to accelerate the development of other scientific research projects. When it is 20 years later, in 2033, it will be another window period for particle colliders. We will directly build the next generation equipment with stronger technical indicators and higher collision energy, which can find smaller particles."
"At that time, we can naturally take over the banner of world technological development, not now, regardless of many other practical problems in the country, forcibly spend a lot of money to start a project that does not help practical problems much... Cough cough cough" Professor Yang coughed violently again when he said this.
His concubine immediately rushed over nervously and helped him down, which also signaled the formal end of this debate!
As for who won or lost, it was not announced on the spot, but looking at the attention of the leaders on Professor Yang himself, everything seemed quite clear.