The House Select Committee on China is demanding that the National Science Foundation (NSF) pause a $67 million research security program after evidence emerged that the universities leading it have active ties to Chinese military-linked institutions.
In a letter sent Tuesday to NSF Interim Director Brian Stone, committee Chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI) called on the agency to suspend funding for the “Safeguarding the Entire Community of the U.S. Research Ecosystem” (SECURE) initiative and review all participating institutions before the program continues.
“Institutions entrusted with U.S. taxpayer dollars to safeguard the nation’s research enterprise should not simultaneously enable foreign adversaries to access and exploit sensitive research and taxpayer-funded scientific advances,” Moolenaar wrote in the letter obtained by Fox News.
The two primary grant recipients are the University of Washington, slated to receive $50 million, and Texas A&M University, designated to receive $17 million. Both schools, Moolenaar wrote, have documented research partnerships with organizations on U.S. government national security watchlists.
“Faculty from UW and TAMU — the same institutions now charged with designing systems and processes to protect taxpayer-funded research — have been collaborating with People’s Republic of China (PRC) defense research and industrial base entities, many of which are on various U.S. government national security entity lists,” the lawmaker explained.
According to the letter, the University of Washington co-authored research with China’s Academy of Military Medical Sciences and institutions known as the “Seven Sons of National Defense,” a group of Chinese universities with direct ties to the People’s Liberation Army. The joint projects involved artificial intelligence, advanced materials and other dual-use technologies.
Texas A&M’s alleged ties are to the PLA’s National University of Defense Technology and Harbin Institute of Technology, both defense-affiliated Chinese institutions. Moolenaar’s letter says some of these collaborations involved federally funded research and may have violated U.S. export control laws.
Similarly, a study by the Center for Research Security and Integrity (CRSI) found that nearly $1 billion in federal research funds have been directed into projects linked to China’s defense labs. According to CRSI, 45 Chinese defense labs have coauthored research with U.S. entities, including public and private universities, as well as national laboratories operated by the Departments of Energy and Defense. The research amounts to at least $943.5 million in federal dollars, most of which stems from the National Science Foundation, which accounted for more than 71% of the funds detailed in the report.
