Top US universities are shunning research money from Huawei amid political pressure, security concerns

Top US universities are shunning research money from Huawei Technologies amid pressure from Congress and the Trump administration to limit dealings with the Chinese telecommunications-equipment maker over national security concerns.

Princeton University, Stanford University, Ohio State University and the University of California at Berkeley all say they are cutting or reducing ties to Huawei. The company gave US$10.6 million in gifts and contracts to nine US schools for technology and communications programs from 2012 to 2018, according to the Education Department.

“More and more of our universities have cut their ties,” said Tobin Smith, vice-president at the Association of American Universities that represents 62 research institutions. In September, the FBI held “a major summit” with university presidents in Washington, Smith said.

The university retreats show how pressure surrounding Huawei is quietly affecting research institutions, even as US authorities mount an aggressive public campaign for companies and European allies to avoid doing business with the company. Federal prosecutors indicted the company in January on charges of trade-secret theft, and its chief financial officer was arrested in Canada on US accusations of busting sanctions placed on Iran.

US colleges and universities operate under an ethos of open, worldwide intellectual exchange. They strive to protect academic freedom from government, political and corporate influence and try to resist pressure to rupture research funding and relationships. But in Huawei’s case, some universities have submitted – albeit reluctantly.

“Huawei has been a good partner. But we take very seriously the federal indictments about the company’s business practices,” Berkeley Vice Chancellor for Research Randy Katz said in an interview.