No mention of China, but US Energy Department warns its staff to avoid foreign recruitment programmes

Programmes sponsored by certain nations ‘threaten the United States’ economic base by facilitating the unauthorised transfer of technology and intellectual property to foreign governments’ deputy secretary says

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The US is keen to prevent China and other countries from illegally acquiring sensitive research in supercomputing and other technologies. Photo: Reuters

Published: 2:10pm, 2 Feb 2019Updated: 9:40pm, 2 Feb 2019

The US Energy Department on Friday told staff they are banned from taking part in foreign recruitment programmes as it seeks to stop China and other countries from illegally acquiring sensitive research in supercomputing and other technologies.

Programmes sponsored by certain countries “threaten the United States’ economic base by facilitating the unauthorised transfer of technology and intellectual property to foreign governments”, the department’s deputy secretary Dan Brouillette said in a memo.

Potential recruits are offered prestigious positions at foreign research institutes, labs and universities, it said.

If employees take part in recruitment programmes by countries deemed to be “sensitive”, they will have to leave the department, the memo said.

Dan Brouillette, deputy secretary of the energy department, said staff who joined certain foreign recruitment programmes would have to leave. Photo: Reuters

The energy department oversees a network of 17 national labs that work on sensitive issues including advanced nuclear energy, nuclear weapons and supercomputing, some of which is classified.