The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) funded research done in collaboration with Chinese researchers and institutes linked to China's defense research and industrial complex, according to a congressional report published Dec. 17.
Investigators from the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party and the House Committee on Education and the Workforce identified more than 4,300 academic papers published between June 2023 and June of this year that involved collaborations between DOE-funded scientists and Chinese researchers. About half of the papers involved Chinese researchers affiliated with China’s military or industrial base.
Particularly concerning, investigators found that federal funds went to research collaborations with Chinese state-owned laboratories and universities that work directly for China’s military, including some listed in a Pentagon database of Chinese military companies with operations in the U.S. The report also detailed collaborations between U.S. researchers and groups blamed for cyberattacks as well as human rights abuses in China.
The authors of the report say the U.S. must do more to protect high-tech research and ensure that the results of taxpayer-funded work don’t end up benefiting Beijing. They recommended several changes to better protect scientific research in the U.S., including new policies for the Department of Energy to use when deciding whether to fund work that involves Chinese partnerships.
And lawmakers are sounding the alarm
after an investigation uncovers how the
Chinese Communist Party is exploiting US
taxpayers to fund its own military and
tech technological rise, including
sensitive nuclear technology. Entities
Molina Weissup reports.
>> In the past 2 years, $6 billion worth of
research and more than 4,000 papers
published within the Department of
Energy involved collaboration with
Chinese researchers. Half of that
research is fueling China's defense and
industrial base. Some of the Chinese
entities involved are among the leading
universities for defense and nuclear
weapons research. This is according to a
newly released report by the select
committee on the CCP. The report is not
hypothetical, congressional
investigators say, detailing hundreds of
instances in which Chinese researchers
received awards after their
collaboration with US researchers led to
breakthroughs. For example,
collaboration with the US professor
helps the CCP and its research into high
yield explosives and Chinese nuclear
weapons development. At the same time,
lawmakers are pushing legislation to
stop Americans from unknowingly propping
up CCP entities that threaten US
national security. Congressman Andy Bar
and Senator John Cornin leading on the
Fight China Act. We're codifying
President Trump's America first
investment policy with this legislation,
which will stop the flow of capital and
knowhow into these sensitive
technologies that threaten our national
security.
>> The chairman of the China Committee
described the situation as deeply
alarming and called on the Department of
Energy to stop the exploitation and
protect hard-earned taxpayer dollars. To
address this, lawmakers are calling for
tighter rules like requiring the
government to disclose research ties
with China. The Department of Energy
said it's reviewing the report and vows
to ensure the integrity and security of
DOE programs. Reporting from Washington,
DC, Molina Weissup, NTD News.
