Data-Driven

During the 1960s and 1970s, China experienced a series of major earthquakes. These events enabled China to accumulate rich earthquake data and valuable experience in earthquake prediction, presenting promising opportunities for scientific cooperation with the U. S., which was equipped with advanced data collection and processing technologies. However, due to the absence of normalized diplomatic relations, it proved challenging for China and the U. S. to eslablish collaboration in the field of earthquake science. Motivated in large part by the desire to utilize Chinese earthquake data for research, MIT doctoral student Lucile M. Jones and other American seismologists actively sought opportunities to collaborate with China despite the unfavorable diplomatic conditions. Their efforts eventually succeeded following the establishment of formal diplomatic relations between the two countries. Although Jones's cooperation with China later ended for various reasons, many other U. S. seismologists maintained long-term collaborations with China—driven, at least in part, by the availability of earthquake data. Jones's experience demonstrates that Chinese scientific data, as a fundamental research resource, served as a key incentive for American scientists to pursue cooperation with China. At the same time, her case reveals a dynamic interplay between this scientific motivation and diplomatic obstacles.