Various U.S. agencies have funded research that led to the creation of 1,020 patents for Chinese entities. The government-funded projects have taken place since 2010.
The patents were created in fields such as biotechnology and semiconductors, chemical engineering, nanotechnology, molecular chemistry and polymers, and medical technology, according to data reviewed by Reuters.
The information comes as debates over whether the United States should pull out of the U.S.-China Science and Technology Agreement have escalated.
Ninety-two patents were granted through funding from the Pentagon, 175 from the Department of Energy, 356 from the Department of Health and Human Services, and 4 from NASA.
It remains unknown which projects were funded through the U.S.-China Science and Technology Agreement, Reuters noted.
Republican Representative John Moolenaar (MI) told Reuters, “It’s alarming that U.S. taxpayers have unwittingly funded over 1,000 patents claimed by Chinese entities, with the Department of Defense accounting for nearly 100 of these patents.”
Moolenaar wrote on X that the “data casts serious doubt on the Administration’s claim that the Chinese military has not benefited from the recently extended U.S.-China Science and Technology Agreement. The Administration should not renew the STA.”
