The Department of Defense (DOD) announced that it is unable to track how many taxpayer dollars funded Chinese research labs.
In a press release from the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General (DOD OIG) it was revealed that the “DoD did not track funding in sufficient detail for us to determine the full scope of funds it provided to Chinese research laboratories or other foreign countries for research related to pathogens or otherwise.”
A report released this week titled “Management Advisory: Review of DoD Funds Provided to the People’s Republic of China and Associated Affiliates for Research Activities or Any Foreign Countries for the Enhancement of Pathogens of Pandemic Potential,” IG Storch found “significant limitations in the adequacy of the data in DoD and Federal awards systems.”
The report comes to satisfy a requirement for the “National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024,” section 252, which calls for an audit into U.S. funding of Chinese research labs.
According to the report, the U.S. Army granted five awards worth $9.9 million to Chinese entities for research purposes “unrelated to the enhancement of pathogens.” The report notes that for another seven awards, a “prime awardee provided funds to a subawardee or contracting research organization in China or other foreign countries for research related to potential enhancement of pathogens of pandemic potential.”
The OIG emphasized that they “discovered significant constraints with the accessibility and comprehensiveness of data housed within, or maintained by, the DoD’s information systems,” which negatively affected its ability to “conduct a thorough examination of DoD funds allocated for research activities, including those activities related to enhancement of pathogens of pandemic potential.”
For example, a government spending website did not contain “sufficient information” relating to awards or costs for “services with Chinese entities.” The website also did not “identify China as a place of performance or any Chinese entities as subawardees.”
Another challenge to the OIG’s investigation was DOD’s failure to track funding to the level of detail necessary to allow the IG to “determine if the DoD provided funding to Chinese research laboratories or other foreign countries for research related to the enhancement of pathogens of pandemic potential.”
According to DOD officials, the department is not required to “track subaward information beyond the initial application process.”
It was recently confirmed that taxpayer dollars went to gain-of-function research in China.
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Principal Deputy Director Lawrence Tabak recently admitted that taxpayers funded the controversial research at China’s Institute of Virology.
Republican Representative Debbie Lesko (AZ) asked during a House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic hearing, “Did NIH fund gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology through EcoHealth [Alliance]?”
“It depends on your definition of gain-of-function research,” Tabak said. “If you’re speaking about the generic term, yes, we did.”
