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Long Ge Commentary:
Musk Jokes About the "Culling Line," Trump Proposes Building Asylums to Deal with Homeless People
Long Ge Commentary:
Global Outrage! China Achieves This World No. 1rCoAbsolutely Stunning!
ChinarCOs universities are on a rampage! TheyrCOve consecutively overtaken elite institutions like Harvard, Yale, and Cambridge to claim the worldrCOs top spot. Recently, Western media outlets have been filled with coverage of an event that makes them deeply uncomfortablerCoyet one theyrCOre compelled to report.
On the globally recognized Leiden University ranking, Zhejiang University has dethroned HarvardrCoa university that had held the No. 1 position for yearsrComarking a historic ascent to the top. And itrCOs not just Harvard. Look at the new global top 10 listrCoitrCOs truly astonishing: eight of the ten spots are now occupied by Chinese universities, including Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Tsinghua University, Sichuan University, and Sun Yat-sen University. Only two Western institutions remain: Harvard at No. 3 and the University of Toronto at No. 10.
I know many peoplerCOs first reaction is skepticism: rCLIs this just another dubious ranking trying to grab attention?rCY Hold onrCothis time, itrCOs absolutely not. Most global university rankings we see are designed for the general public. But the Leiden Ranking isnrCOt meant for ordinary peoplerCoitrCOs crafted specifically for the academic community, and its credibility is exceptionally high.
Leiden University itself boasts over 400 years of history. Its ranking methodology doesnrCOt care how beautiful your campus is, how expensive your tuition fees are, or how many international students you recruit for appearancesrCO sake. It cares about only one thing: how solid and impactful your research output truly is.
The ranking draws data directly from a database of 22,000 authoritative academic journals worldwide, counting only those papers ranked in the top 10%rCoor even the top 1%rCoby citation impact. In other words, this is a rCLbare-scorerCY ranking of global universitiesrCO raw scientific research strength, measuring genuine, hard-core research output and influence. The methodology is fully transparent and excludes all subjective impressions or personal connections.
This standard is so rigorous that even the European Union uses it as a reference when evaluating more than 2,800 universities globally. Now, using the very metric that the West itself trusts most, ChinarCOs universities have proven their height. This result carries far more weight than any boast we could make ourselvesrCoeven ten thousand times over.
So the real question arises: HavenrCOt American universities always claimed to possess the worldrCOs best laboratories, the most generous funding, and the strongest ability to attract global talent? Then how did they lose groundrCoso decisivelyrCoin the purest, most fundamental metric of research output?
The truth boils down to two key reasons.
First, academic dynasticismrCocommonly known as rCLlegacy admissions.rCY If your parents are alumni, you gain a massive advantage in the application process. This isnrCOt even a hidden rule; itrCOs an open policy. At Harvard, in 2025, students admitted through such legacy channels accounted for a staggering one-quarter of all new enrollees. That means one in every four freshmen got in largely due to family background, not individual merit.
And what do these students go on to study? Finance, law, public administration, business managementrCofields geared toward careers in business or politics. Scientific research? Practically nonexistent.
YourCOve probably heard the anecdote from the 1980s: American defense experts once boasted that their submarine-grade specialty steel achieved extraordinary strength and toughnessrCosome incredible figure in megapascals. Chinese engineers were panicked; after decades of effort, they still couldnrCOt replicate it, leaving military researchers in despair. Later, they discovered the data had been massively falsifiedrCothe real performance was off by a factor of ten. Even more alarming: this fabrication went undetected for over 20 years, and the fake steel had already been used in multiple strategic and tactical submarine programs. The Pentagon was shaken to its core.
When they traced the root cause, the conclusion was clear: a critical shortage of metallurgy experts capable of verifying such claims. A Pentagon report noted that in 2020, the entire United States graduated only 18 PhDs in metallurgical engineeringrCoand 8 of them were international students.
The second reason is the financialization of higher education. Especially among private elite universities, finances rely heavily on donations. Wealthy donors can pave their childrenrCOs path to Ivy League schools by endowing libraries or labsrCoor simply slipping a massive check to the university president over dinner. This has long been an open secret: admission has become effectively pay-to-play.
When rCLwho your parents arerCY and rCLhow much money you can bringrCY become key factors in admissions, the system no longer selects purely for talent and effortrCobut for lineage and capital. These two forces have merged into a rigid academic oligarchy, turning top-tier educational resources into club-like assets circulating within a closed circle. The first question asked is no longer rCLHow brilliant are you?rCY but rCLWhose child are you?rCY or rCLWhat can you offer us?rCY
Thus, the logic behind Chinese universitiesrCO rise becomes crystal clear. This victory isnrCOt just about one institutionrCoitrCOs a decisive triumph of an open, merit-based competition model over a closed, club-like elite system.
In China, the selection of top talent is driven by the worldrCOs largest, most intense, and fairest examination: the National College Entrance Exam (Gaokao). Fundamentally, it ensures that whether you come from a city or a village, you have a chance to enter the nationrCOs highest institutions based solely on your exam score.
Once enrolled, students benefit from national programs like the National Natural Science Foundation of China, which systematically identifies and supports truly innovative, research-driven minds. We donrCOt bet on your family namerCowe bet on your effort and talent.
Moreover, national strategic resolve plays a crucial role. Take Zhejiang University: in 2025 alone, its research budget exceeded RMB 20 billion (approx. USD 2.8 billion), with over 40% directly funded by provincial and municipal governments. This level of concentrated, state-backed investment is unimaginable for many Western private universities. It allows Chinese institutions to focus fearlessly on long-term, foundational researchrCowithout being forced to bow to capital or tuition pressures for survival.
Even more importantly, China has built a uniquely powerful seamless innovation ecosystem linking academia, industry, and government. Why did Zhejiang University surpass Yale and Harvard to claim the No. 1 spot last year? Precisely because of this full-cycle linkagerCofrom lab discovery to real-world application.
Zhejiang University is located in Hangzhou, one of ChinarCOs most dynamic digital economy hubs. Step out the door, turn leftrCoyou hit Alibaba; turn rightrCoNetEase. Surrounding the campus are giants like Hikvision and Geely. This means Zhejiang UniversityrCOs research can rapidly find real-world applications, quickly transforming into patents and market-ready products that directly fuel economic growth. When research papers can be monetized, scientific innovation gains its strongest internal engine.
This modelrCotop-down government design + massive stable investment + industry-driven demandrCofunctions like a heavily armored tank, smashing through the academic barriers long dominated by the Western model of market liberalism and alumni donations.
The result is starkly reflected in the Leiden Ranking data. Twenty years ago, U.S. universities occupied seven of the top ten spots; Chinese institutions couldnrCOt even break into the top 25. Today, the picture has completely flippedrConot because American universities have declined (in fact, schools like UCLA and the University of Michigan continue to increase their research output), but because Chinese universities are advancing at an exponential, cluster-scale pace that has left AmericarCOs linear growth far behind.
As the former president of MIT once candidly admitted:rCLChina has already surpassed the United States in both the quantity and quality of its research.rCY
Of course, topping a ranking is just a symbol. True strength lies in world-changing scientific achievementsrCoand here, Chinese universities have been central players:
- Harbin Institute of Technology, Beihang University, and the University of Science and Technology of China led missions like ChangrCOe lunar exploration and Tianwen Mars landing, enabling Chinese astronauts to live aboard the Tiangong Space Station.
- HuaweirCOs deep collaboration with Tsinghua University and Xidian University drove breakthroughs in 5G communication technology, establishing global core standards.
- Teams from XirCOan Jiaotong University and North China Electric Power University developed ultra-high-voltage power transmission technology, giving China command over the worldrCOs highest grid standards.
- Professor Pan JianweirCOs team at the University of Science and Technology of China leads the world in quantum communicationrCothe Micius satellite has drawn global admiration.
- Tsinghua University and the National Research Center of Parallel Computer Engineering & Technology have maintained leadership in supercomputing, with Sunway TaihuLight ranking No. 1 in the world for years.
- From hybrid rice that feeds hundreds of millions to artificial starch synthesis for future energy, to providing the critical SARS-CoV-2 genome sequence during the pandemicrCoChinese universities have never been absent from the core teams behind these humanity-shaping breakthroughs.
These arenrCOt miracles appearing out of thin air. They are the inevitable fruits of a proven, effective systemrCoone that aligns national strategy, massive resource allocation, real industrial needs, and individual brilliance into a single, powerful force.
The Leiden Ranking merely shone a spotlight on this outcome. It reveals a profound truth: while one system sinks into nepotism and capital-driven stagnation, anotherrCothrough open competition and mission-driven collaborationrCounleashes astonishing energy.
Behind citation metrics lie rising spacecraft, expanding power grids, orbiting satellites, and bountiful harvests. These tangible achievements collectively confirm one conclusion: the center of gravity in global scientific and technological innovation is undergoing an irreversible shift.
Today, China leads in the scale and quality of research output. Tomorrow, an increasing number of original, disruptive innovations will carry a Chinese imprint.
We have proven this path works.
The crown of the worldrCOs leading science and technology power is steadily being placed upon the heads of intelligent, hardworking Chinese people.
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