In April, 2007, the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology created a stir by selecting the 55 year old Wan Gang 万钢 as its first director who was not a communist party member. Two months later, the Ministry of Health elected as director Chen Zhu 陈竺, also not a party member. These two appointments were the culmination of a trend since 2004 of a new generation of non-communist party leaders filling key positions in China’s research and higher-education community. In 2006 alone, 11 top universities such as Nanjing University, Dong Nan University, and Zhejiang University replaced their presidents. Many analysts heralded this trend as a sign of the party’s loosening grip on science and technology that might lead to greater academic freedom and international exchange.

This new generation shares a common profile. Coming of age after the Cultural Revolution and China’s restoration of its higher education system in 1978, they are nearly all in their mid 50’s and did their doctoral training abroad. For example, Wan Gang studied in Germany, Chen Zhu in France, Zhejiang University’s President Yang Wei in the US, and both Gong Ke龚克 president of Tianjin University and Rao Zihe饶子和 president of Nankai University studied in Australia.

These changes, however, may only be cosmetic. The directors, as the public face of China’s science and technology ministries and top universities, may be young with international savvy. Yet, many of the vice-directors such as Li Xueyong李学勇( age 58), who oversee the daily functioning of these organizations, remain party bureaucrats. The Chinese Academy of Science especially, with Lu Yongxiang 路甬祥 (age 66), Bai Chunli白春礼 (age 55), Zhan Wenlong 詹文龙（age 53）, and Fang Xin 方新（age 53）continues to combine science and politics as its top leadership are also all high party officials. Hence, while China’s science and technology community may be opening up to the rest of the world at the highest administrative levels, the political climate within the country may remain the same.