High risk of Chinese influence in US universities
The release of a new report raises concerns about China’s influence in US academic institutions
The Chinese Communist Party has co-funded more than 325,000 US-published journal articles since 2008, including those from Harvard and other top universities, raising concerns about the scope of academic cooperation between the US and China.
It comes amid rising concerns and discussions about China’s influence on the global stage, and theft of intellectual property linked to US academia, government and industry and aims to identify where the People’s Republic of China’s technology acquisition program poses risks.
Funding from China also raises national security concerns, with fears raised that China has an influence on decision-makers within universities after it was reported that former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo was prevented from speaking at MIT out of concerns he could offend the CCP.
Co-author of the report and managing director of Internet 2.0 Michael Lammbrau said there was a “high” risk of influence in academia due to China’s funding of research.
“It’s important for stakeholders throughout academia to better understand the context of funding from China as well as the potential for threats on national security,” Mr Lammbrau wrote earlier this month.
While the requirement to track funding for published articles commenced in 2008, up until 2019 there were clear upwards trends in US and China co-authored articles. In 2008, there were 2632 US co-authored published articles funded by at least one PRC government agency.
In 2010, that figure was 8877, and by 2015, 24,185 articles had been published.
“Since 2008, though there has been a clear, upward trend of US co-authored published articles co-funded by at least one PRC government agency,” the report reads.
“In 2019, this trend peaked at 43,459 articles, but has since been trending downwards. In our assessment this is a result of US government’s policy to reduce the People’s Republic of China’s talent and intellectual property acquisition programs.”
Consequently, in 2020 and 2021, there were 41,870 and 34,206 co-authored published articles, respectively.
The study estimates that at the height of research cooperation in 2019, between $1.5 trillion and $2 trillion was spent by both countries.
There have been greater calls for the US to restrict partnerships with China, with growing beliefs Beijing have also developed advanced military hardware off the back of stolen US technology.
The report also analysed data on foreign gifts and contracts from China reported to the US Department of Education, with Ivy League universities being among the top recipients.
Harvard University was the top recipient, receiving $US138m, followed by Stamford University at $US96m and the University of Pennsylvania receiving $US92m.
Eight universities, all high-level R1 institutions, received a combined reported $US574m in foreign gifts and contracts.
Mr Lammbrau said policy experts “need to develop and implement an alternative to the lure of funding from not only China, but any foreign power that may seek to use the funding to its advantage”.
“The US government should take a long-term approach to address this issue, with a focus on protecting national security and intellectual property,” Mr Lammbrau said.
“It is necessary to fill the financial gap that foreign powers can use to their advantage through financial support for US universities, academics, and students.
“It is important to strike a balance between maintaining academic freedom and preventing foreign influence from any power that poses a serious threat to US interests,” Mr Lammbrau wrote.