Chinese tech under the microscope: US agencies step up reviews of research activity on American campuses
- Huawei and other Chinese firms are the focus of growing US concerns about possible technology transfers in academic settings
- Agencies including the FBI, Department of Education and National Institutes of Health are coordinating efforts in look at Chinese-financed programmes
Huawei Technologies, China’s largest smartphone maker, broke into the American consciousness this month when its chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou was detained in Vancouver, British Columbia, on a warrant from the US, which seeks to extradite her on charges she committed fraud and violated sanctions against doing business with Iran.
But while her bail hearing made headlines over several days, US agencies had been stepping up reviews of Huawei’s activities on several fronts well before then, especially in efforts to track and monitor China’s participation in advanced research conducted at American universities, and the financial help its tech companies provide.
Watch: Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou released on bail
The FBI, Department of Education, National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Association of American Universities are some of the bodies now coordinating efforts to learn which faculty members at research universities and medical centres are receiving financial support from Chinese entities.
Prompted by warnings about the risk China poses to US national security, moves by the federal government to coordinate with the country’s top research institutions follow calls for action from various government agencies, US lawmakers and some think tanks.
Most notably, the FBI began to focus on China’s support for academic research in August, when its representatives met officials from Texas academic and medical institutions including Texas Medical Centre, the University of Texas and Texas A&M systems, the University of Houston, and MD Anderson Cancer Centre, according to an August 8 report by The Houston Chronicle.
That account said that the “unprecedented” gathering, which discussed “security threats from foreign adversaries”, was “the first step in a new initiative the bureau plans to replicate around the country”.
While the FBI did not single out Chinese funding as a target during the meeting in Texas, bureau officials, including its director Christopher Wray, have been vocal about the need to address national security threats that Beijing poses.