Washington, Oct 15 (IANS) The chairman of the House Select Committee on China asked the Pentagon to add more than 150 Chinese institutions and 22 talent programmes to a list of entities that pose research security risks, and to bar China Scholarship Council-funded researchers from defence-funded work.
Representative John Moolenaar on Wednesday (local time) wrote to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, calling on the Department of War to expand its Section 1286 List.
The committee wants the list to include 14 Chinese Academy of Sciences institutes “identified as core CCP defence partners”, 62 Chinese laboratories and national defence laboratories, 58 universities, 22 “foreign malign talent programs”, and the China Scholarship Council and affiliated scholars, according to the committee’s release.
“The list has become an increasingly important research security tool because an entity’s inclusion can directly affect whether DOW-funded researchers may have a research relationship with that entity,” Moolenaar wrote.
“As the Department works to strengthen its impact, the completeness and accuracy of the Section 1286 List becomes more important,” he added.
The letter said the nominated laboratories conduct research relevant to “weapons, aerospace, hypersonics, semiconductors, underwater systems, electronic warfare, and other military technologies”.
It also named universities “formally co-administered or jointly supported” by China’s State Administration for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence, and talent programmes in sectors “such as quantum and artificial intelligence (AI)”.
Moolenaar said the evidence was detailed in an annex and supplemental documentation released with the letter. The release did not list the individual institutions in its text.
He also urged a ban on China Scholarship Council-funded personnel.
“Individuals receiving CSC support should not be permitted to work on, contribute to, or otherwise participate in DOW-funded research for the duration of that support,” Moolenaar wrote.
He said the prohibition should apply “regardless of whether the individual is formally listed as a covered individual, principal investigator, co-investigator, or other named participant on the DOW award”.
The letter noted that the department had already notified 30 institutions of “identified risks” and directed corrective action.
The letter followed a committee publication on stopping “China’s theft of taxpayer-funded research”.
The Section 1286 List, named after a section of the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, identifies foreign institutions and talent programmes that the Pentagon considers a risk to US research. Inclusion can limit whether defence-funded researchers may work with an entity.
The House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party was set up in 2023.
–IANS
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