Could Chinese mathematicians tip the balance in a US conference boycott?

AdvertisementUS-China relationsChinaScienceCould Chinese mathematicians tip the balance in a US conference boycott?

Petition signed by 2,300 scholars from 80 countries urges ‘World Cup’ to be moved due to American policies towards foreign academics

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Ling Xinin OhioPublished: 7:30pm, 1 May 2026

A Chinese boycott of the “World Cup of mathematics” this year could be decisive, according to a co-organiser of a petition calling for the event to be moved out of the United States this year.

Ila Varma, a University of Toronto mathematician and boycott co-organiser, said the country was “uniquely situated” to act – both as a target of US restrictions and as a major scientific powerhouse.“The Chinese government does not apply sanctions to US universities the way the US government does to Chinese universities, the US is targeting the Chinese scientific enterprise as part of a broader attack on science,” Varma said.Advertisement

Varma is one of more than 2,300 mathematicians from nearly 80 countries who have signed a petition to move the 2026 International Congress of Mathematicians in Philadelphia out of the United States, citing visa barriers, safety concerns and US policies they say undermine the inclusiveness of global science.

The total number of petitioners already exceeds the official number of registered participants registered for the event.

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Any Chinese mathematician “who understands the value of a genuinely global mathematics community” should support the boycott and convince their mathematical societies to do the same, Varma added.

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