House Select Committee report flags US-funded research ties with Chinese Defence entities

According to the report, more than 1,400 research publications were produced through DOD-funded projects involving Chinese partners, representing over $2.5 billion in U.S. taxpayer funding. The committee stated that approximately 800 of these publications, more than half, featured direct collaboration with Chinese defence-linked institutions.

The report highlights multiple case studies that the committee said demonstrate significant security risks. In one instance, a DOD-funded nuclear expert affiliated with Carnegie Science reportedly conducted Pentagon-supported research while simultaneously holding appointments at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Hefei Institute of Physical Sciences.

Another case cited involved research funding from the Office of Naval Research, the Army Research Office, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for a joint project with researchers from Arizona State University, the University of Texas, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and Beihang University. The research focused on high-stakes decision-making under uncertainty, which the committee noted has direct applications in cyber warfare and military defence. Beihang University is identified as one of China's "Seven Sons of National Defence," institutions known for close ties to the PLA.

In a third example, the committee referenced a 2024 publication on nanoscale optical devices funded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR). The study involved researchers from U.S. and Chinese institutions, including the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT). The report noted that CALT is China's largest missile and launch vehicle development entity, responsible for work on hypersonic weapons and reusable launch systems.

The findings build on a September 2024 investigation led by Select Committee Chairman John Moolenaar and former House Education and Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, which found that hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. federal research funding over the past decade contributed to China's technological advancement and military modernisation.

The committee's report identified several systemic policy failures within the Defence Department's research and engineering apparatus. These include outdated risk assessment frameworks, limited enforcement mechanisms, and insufficient screening of Chinese talent recruitment programs and defence-linked laboratories. The report stated that only a small fraction of known Chinese defence entities have been added to existing federal restriction lists.

Additionally, the committee found that the DOD does not prohibit fundamental research collaborations with entities it has designated as national security threats, nor does it conduct post-award monitoring of grants, even when risk mitigation measures are imposed.

The Select Committee concluded that U.S. taxpayer-funded research should not be conducted with entities linked to human rights abuses or China's mass surveillance and military infrastructure. The report calls for urgent reforms to safeguard U.S. research funding and prevent its use in advancing the strategic and military capabilities of adversarial states. (ANI)