The House Select Committee on China has released an investigative report detailing the use of over $2.5 billion in U.S. taxpayer funds for research collaborations involving Chinese defense entities. The report identifies more than 1,400 research publications tied to Department of Defense (DOD)-funded projects with Chinese partners, with about 800 of these involving direct collaboration with organizations linked to China's military.
According to the committee's findings, some partnerships involved sensitive national security topics. One case involved a DOD-funded nuclear expert at Carnegie Science who held dual appointments at both U.S. and Chinese institutions, including the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Hefei Institute of Physical Sciences.
Another example highlighted joint work funded by agencies such as the Office of Naval Research, Army Research Office, and NASA between researchers from American universities—Arizona State University and University of Texas—and their counterparts at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Beihang University in China. Beihang University is recognized for its close ties to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
A third case involved a 2024 publication on nanoscale optical devices that was co-authored by researchers from City University of New York and several Chinese institutions: Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Sun Yat-sen University, Wuhan University of Technology, and the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT). Both Huazhong University of Science and Technology and Sun Yat-sen University are managed by China’s State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (SASTIND), which supports PLA research efforts. CALT is known as China's main missile weapons development base.
This latest report follows a September 2024 investigation led by Chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI) and former Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC), which found that hundreds of millions in federal research funding over the past decade have aided China's technological growth and military modernization.
The committee outlined policy shortfalls uncovered during its review:
- The DOD's Research & Engineering division has not significantly updated risk management protocols or enforcement measures. For instance, only a small portion of China’s talent recruitment programs and defense labs have been added to restricted lists despite broader identification by public- and private-sector analysts.
- Current policies do not ban fundamental research relationships with entities labeled national security threats under DOD guidelines.
- The DOD does not conduct post-award monitoring or compliance checks for grants even when risk mitigation steps are required.
"The Select Committee's new report makes it clear: there is no justification for U.S. taxpayer-funded research to be conducted with entities documented to have facilitated human rights abuses or support China’s mass surveillance apparatus," according to the committee statement.
The full report can be accessed online through the committee's website along with coverage from AP News.
