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John Moolenaar, chairman of the US House Select Committee on China, has urged Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to expand the Department of War's Section 1286 List by adding Chinese research institutions, universities, laboratories and talent recruitment programmes allegedly linked to China's defence sector, according to a press release by the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (SCCCP).
In a letter to Hegseth, Moolenaar recommended adding 14 institutes of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, 62 Chinese laboratories and national defence laboratories, 58 universities, 22 foreign talent recruitment programmes, and the China Scholarship Council (CSC) and its affiliated scholars to the list. According to the press release, Moolenaar said the Section 1286 List is an important research security mechanism that identifies foreign institutions and talent recruitment programmes considered potential national security risks to the US research enterprise. Inclusion on the list can affect whether researchers receiving Department of War funding are permitted to maintain research relationships with designated entities. "The completeness and accuracy of the Section 1286 List becomes more important," Moolenaar wrote, according to the statement. The committee said it had identified Chinese research institutions with documented affiliations, formal agreements, oversight relationships or other significant connections to China's defence research and industrial base. The proposed additions include Chinese Academy of Sciences institutes described by the committee as core defence partners, as well as laboratories conducting research in areas such as weapons, aerospace, hypersonics, semiconductors, underwater systems, electronic warfare and other military technologies. The recommendations also cover universities reportedly co-administered or jointly supported by China's State Administration for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (SASTIND). The press release stated that the committee's assessment was based on evidence relating to military research and procurement, defence-industrial relationships, institutional links to China's national defence science and technology system, and other criteria relevant to the department's designation process. Moolenaar also highlighted concerns over foreign talent recruitment programmes targeting critical and emerging technologies, including quantum technology and artificial intelligence. Separately, he called on the Department of War to prohibit researchers, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers and other research personnel receiving financial support from the China Scholarship Council from participating in Department of War-funded research for the duration of that support. According to the letter cited in the press release, concerns surrounding the CSC include academic freedom, surveillance of students, ideological control and potential espionage. Moolenaar recommended that the proposed restriction apply regardless of whether CSC-supported individuals are formally designated as covered individuals, principal investigators, co-investigators or other named participants in a funded research project. The committee also noted that the Department of War had notified 30 US institutions of identified research security risks and directed corrective action, presenting the proposed expansion as part of broader efforts to strengthen safeguards around federally funded research. (ANI)
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