Washington (AP) – Over the last two years, pentagon The Chinese government has been funded hundreds of projects in collaboration with China and research institutes related to the country’s defense industry, including many people blacklisted for working with the Chinese military, a parliamentary investigation found.
A report released Friday by House Republicans on the Communist Party of China’s Selection Committee alleges that the project allowed China to use the US research partnership Military Interests While both countries are trapped Technology and weapons rivalry.
“The US taxpayer dollars should be used to protect the nation, not to strengthen its primary strategic competitor,” the Republicans wrote in the report.
“The failure to protect American research from hostile foreign exploitation continues to erode US technological control and puts national defense capabilities at risk,” he said.
They did not immediately respond to the Associated Press request for the Department of Defense and Comments.
The Congressional report said some Department of Defense officials argued that research should remain open as long as it is “uncontrolled and not classified.”
The report creates several recommendations for reducing US research collaboration with China. It also supports the new law proposed by the person chairing the committee. John MourenardR-Michigan. The bill would prohibit the Department of Defense funding for projects carried out in collaboration with researchers affiliated with Chinese organizations that the US government identifies as a safety risk.
Beijing has said in the past that science and technology cooperation between the two countries has been mutually beneficial and will help them to address global challenges. The Chinese Embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
Republicans say joint research has military applications
The 80-page report is based on the findings of the committee last year. Partnership between us and a university in China Over the past decade, Beijing has given hundreds of millions of dollars of federal funds to help develop critical technologies. Several US universities amid pressure from Republicans The joint program has ended In recent years, together with schools in China.
The new report focuses on the Department of Defense and its billions of dollars in annual research funding.
The committee’s investigation identified 1,400 research papers published between June 2023 and June 2025, recognised support from the Pentagon and worked with partners in China. The publication was funded by approximately 700 defense grants, exceeding $2.5 billion. Of the 1,400 publications, more than half of the organizations affiliated with China’s defense research and industrial base are involved.
Federal law does not prohibit cooperation in research with them, but dozens of these organizations have been flagged with potential security concerns regarding the US government list. Department of Defense Money supported research in areas including High Sonic Technology,semiconductor, artificial intelligenceAdvanced materials and promote the next generation.
According to the report, many of the projects have clear military applications.
In one case, nuclear scientists from Carnegie Science, a Washington research institute, worked extensively on research support for the Pentagon, holding appointments at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the HEFEI Institute of Physical Sciences.
Scientists who have conducted research into high-energy materials, nitrogen and high-pressure physics are all related to nuclear weapons development – have been recognized in China for advancing the country’s national development goals, the report says. This was called a “deeply troubling example” of how Beijing could leverage US taxpayer-funded research to promote arms development.
In another pentagon-backed project, Arizona State University and the University of Texas have partnered with researchers from Shanghai Ziaoton University and Beihan University to study high-stakes decision-making in uncertain environments with direct applications of electronic warfare and cyber defense. The money came from the Naval Research Bureau, the Army Laboratory and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Shanghai University is under the supervision of a central Chinese institution tasked with developing defense technology, and Beihang University, located in Beijing’s capital, is linked to the People’s Liberation Army and is known for its aerospace program.
Research collaboration needs to be reduced
The report is problematic with the Department of Defense policy that does not expressly prohibit research partnerships with foreign agencies blacklisted by the US government.
It will produce more than 12 recommendations, including a ban on pentagonal research cooperation with entities that are blacklisted in the US or “known to be part of China’s defense research and industrial foundations.”
Moolenaar’s law includes similar provisions, suggesting a ban on the Department of Defense funding of US universities that run joint research institutes in China.
An official from the senior education department said the report “emphasizes the vulnerability of federally funded research to foreign invasion on American campuses.” Education Secretary Nicholas Kent said the findings are strengthening the need for transparency around international relations among US universities and strengthening “a government-wide approach to protecting the malignant effects of hostile foreign actors.”
House investigators have not tried to end all academic and research cooperation with China, but those with connections between the Chinese military and its research and industrial bases say they are not trying to end all academic and research cooperation.
