I totally agree with Mr. Yau. Being IMO good certainly does not imply that the person is a good researcher in mathematics. Mr. Yau expressed all my feelings adequately so I would not care to say anything much. I also went for a PhD in maths. Due to my limited ability, I never amounted to much despite having gotten one. However, the experience of going for a PhD gave me the opportunity to observe what originality and creativity in mathematics means. It is my opinion that the West wins hands down in that respect when compared to the Far Easterners including Japanese. My feeling is that it is a cultural attitude due to Confucianism: 吾爱吾师吾不爱真理,科举考试只准为圣人立言,有创意者文字狱侍候,至今犹然。Given these cultural deficiencies, how can mainland Chinese excel in science and mathematics? Fat chance. Terry Tao 陶哲轩 is Australian of Chinese descent and he is capable of creativity matching most of westerners. So the problem with Chinese mathematicians lacking creativity certainly not a genetic one but in my opinion, a cultural one. Note that all famous Chinese scientists in the world are educated in the west. China has yet to produce a home grown mathematician of world caliber. Many Chinese people blames racism for mainland Chinese never having received a fields medal. Perish the thought. Thanks are due to Dr. Yau for his honest opinion.