Ray Bogan
Hundreds of millions of dollars in US federal research funding has contributed to China’s technological advancements and military modernization, according to a new Congressional report.
Republicans on the House Committee on the Chinese Communist Party found that partnerships between Chinese and American Universities helped the CCP make advancements in hypersonic and nuclear weapons, artificial intelligence, advanced lasers, semiconductors, and robotics.
The Committee says that’s the same technology the PLA would use against the U.S. military in the event of a conflict.
The report states – “The research funded by the DOD and the IC is providing back-door access to the very foreign adversary nation whose aggression these capabilities are necessary to protect against.”
The committee said there are a lack of legal guardrails around the federal funds.
It recommends stricter guidelines for federally funded research, including restricting researchers who receive US grants from working with Chinese universities and companies that have military ties.
The committee pointed to multiple universities including – The University of California, Berkeley, UCLA and the Georgia Institute of Technology. It said Georgia Tech and UC Berkeley are both working to cut ties and relinquish ownership of their Chinese partners and programs.
The report also said that joint education institutions at UC Berkeley and the University of Pittsburgh, “serve as conduits for transferring critical U.S. technologies and expertise to China, including to entities linked to China’s defense machine and the security apparatus it uses to facilitate their human rights abuses.”
The report blamed the Biden-Harris Administration for not enforcing foreign gift and contract requirements through the Department of Education.
“These undisclosed foreign gifts—likely hundreds of millions, if not billions in total—gives PRC entities troubling influence without transparency and contribute to building the research relationships that pose risks to U.S. national security.”
This report follows a year-long investigation between the House Committee on the CCP and House Education and Workforce Committee.