Washington, DC [US], December 25 (ANI): The US House Select Committee on China has released an investigative report alleging that the Department of Defense under the Biden administration allowed extensive US taxpayer-funded research collaboration with Chinese entities linked to the Chinese Communist Party and the People’s Liberation Army, raising serious national security concerns.
According to the report, more than 1,400 research publications were produced through Department of Defense-funded projects involving Chinese partners, representing more than $2.5 billion in US taxpayer funding. The committee said approximately 800 of these publications, or more than half, involved direct collaboration with Chinese defense-linked institutions.
The report outlines several case studies that it said demonstrate significant security risks. In one instance, a Department of Defense-funded nuclear expert affiliated with Carnegie Science reportedly conducted Pentagon-supported research while simultaneously holding appointments at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Hefei Institute of Physical Sciences.
Another case cited involved research funding from the Office of Naval Research, the Army Research Office, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for a joint project with researchers from Arizona State University, the University of Texas, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and Beihang University. The research focused on high-stakes decision-making under uncertainty, which the committee noted has direct applications in cyber warfare and military defense. Beihang University is identified as one of China’s “Seven Sons of National Defense,” institutions known for close ties to the People’s Liberation Army.
In a third example, the committee referenced a 2024 publication on nanoscale optical devices funded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. The study involved researchers from US and Chinese institutions, including the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology. The report noted that the organization is China’s largest missile and launch vehicle development entity, responsible for work on hypersonic weapons and reusable launch systems.
The findings build on a September 2024 investigation led by Select Committee Chairman John Moolenaar and former House Education and Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, which found that hundreds of millions of dollars in US federal research funding over the past decade contributed to China’s technological advancement and military modernization.
The report identified several systemic policy failures within the Defense Department’s research and engineering apparatus, including outdated risk assessment frameworks, limited enforcement mechanisms, and insufficient screening of Chinese talent recruitment programs and defense-linked laboratories. It said only a small fraction of known Chinese defense entities have been added to existing federal restriction lists.
The committee also found that the Department of Defense does not prohibit fundamental research collaborations with entities it has designated as national security threats, nor does it conduct post-award monitoring of grants, even when risk mitigation measures are imposed.
The Select Committee concluded that US taxpayer-funded research should not be conducted with entities linked to human rights abuses or China’s mass surveillance and military infrastructure, calling for urgent reforms to safeguard US research funding and prevent its use in advancing the strategic and military capabilities of adversarial states.
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