A new report from the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party shows the Pentagon funded hundreds of research projects that aided the Chinese military. The projects equated to around $2.5 billion in funding over just a recent two-year period.
Pentagon research
The 80-page report looked at 1,400 collegiate research papers published between June 2023 and June 2025 that acknowledged support from Pentagon grants.
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The report said roughly half of these papers were done in collaboration with universities in China, which have links to the country’s defense industry.
The United States government even blacklisted some of those universities because of “their roles in advancing China’s military capabilities or engaging in human rights violations.”
Those blacklists don’t prevent research collaboration, even for projects the report said have clear military applications.
Lawmakers who released the report argue these projects have allowed China to exploit these partnerships to fuel its military and technology rise at a time when it is at odds with the U.S.
“While global collaboration in scientific and engineering research is essential to advancing innovation and solving shared challenges, the [People’s Republic of China] has systematically weaponized this openness,” the report reads.
One cited example is of a professor and nuclear scientist at the Carnegie Institution of Washington who reportedly worked extensively on Pentagon-backed research while also doing enough work in China to be a “selectee of China’s Thousand Talents Program.”
Fixing the issue
The report goes on to make 14 recommendations to mitigate this issue. They range from prohibiting research collaboration with entities on government blacklists to conducting damage assessments of what’s already happened.
The report also backs legislation from Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., that calls for a full-on ban of Defense Department funding for U.S. universities that operate joint institutes with Chinese universities.
“This legislation will help America’s tech sector maintain its leading role and ensure our national security is protected. Our country is the best in the world in semiconductor innovation, and today’s bill will help level the playing field for American companies competing against the Chinese Communist Party’s state subsidies and theft of American intellectual property,” Moolenaar said in a statement following the introduction of the legislation.
Trump and China
The report comes amid recent tensions between China and the U.S. over President Donald Trump’s trade war.
The president also angered some of his base after he announced his administration would allow 600,000 Chinese nationals to enter the U.S. on student visas.
