Key Takeaways
- The U.S. Department of Energy is funding research collaborations with Chinese scientists and researchers that may be benefiting China’s military and industrial base.
- A congressional report found over 4,300 academic papers published between June 2023 and June 2024 that involved collaborations between DOE-funded scientists and Chinese researchers, with about half of the papers involving Chinese researchers affiliated with China’s military or industrial base.
- The report recommends several changes to better protect scientific research in the U.S., including new policies for the Department of Energy to use when deciding whether to fund work that involves Chinese partnerships.
- The Energy Department has failed to take steps to ensure the research it funds doesn’t benefit China, leaving taxpayer-funded research vulnerable to exploitation by China’s defense research and industrial base.
Introduction to the Investigation
The U.S. Congress has published a report that reveals China is exploiting partnerships with U.S. researchers funded by the Department of Energy to gain access to sensitive nuclear technology and other innovations with economic and national security applications. The report, which was published on Wednesday, states that the U.S. must do more to protect high-tech research and ensure that the results of taxpayer-funded work don’t end up benefiting Beijing. The investigation is part of a congressional push to raise a firewall blocking U.S. research from boosting China’s military buildup, as the two countries are locked in a tech and arms rivalry that will shape the future global order.
The Findings of the Investigation
The investigation, which was conducted by the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party and the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, identified more than 4,300 academic papers published between June 2023 and June 2024 that involved collaborations between DOE-funded scientists and Chinese researchers. About half of the papers involved Chinese researchers affiliated with China’s military or industrial base, which is particularly concerning. The investigators found that federal funds went to research collaborations with Chinese state-owned laboratories and universities that work directly for China’s military, including some listed in a Pentagon database of Chinese military companies with operations in the U.S. The report also detailed collaborations between U.S. researchers and groups blamed for cyberattacks as well as human rights abuses in China.
The Energy Department’s Role
The Energy Department routinely funds advanced research into nuclear energy and the development and disposal of nuclear weaponry, along with a long list of other high-tech fields like quantum computing, materials science, and physics. The department oversees 17 national laboratories that have led the development in many technologies and doles out hundreds of millions of dollars each year for research. However, the report found that the Energy Department has failed for decades to take steps to ensure the research it funds doesn’t benefit China. The authors of the report concluded that "these longstanding policy failures and inaction have left taxpayer-funded research vulnerable to exploitation by China’s defense research and industrial base and state-directed technology transfer activities."
Recommendations and Opposition
The report recommends several changes to better protect scientific research in the U.S., including a new standardized approach to assessing the national security risks of research, as well as requirements that the department share information about research ties with China with other U.S. government agencies to make it easier to spot problems. However, the proposed legislation aimed at preventing research funding in science and technology and defense from going to collaborations or partnerships with "foreign adversary-controlled" entities that pose a national security risk was met with strong opposition from scientists and researchers. They argued that the measures were too broad and could chill collaboration and undermine America’s competitive edge in science and technology.
Conclusion and Next Steps
The report’s findings and recommendations have significant implications for the U.S. research community and the nation’s economic and national security. The Energy Department has failed to respond to questions about the report and its recommendations, and the Chinese Embassy in Washington has not commented on the matter. Rep. John Moolenaar, a Michigan Republican who chairs the select committee, stated that the "investigation reveals a deeply alarming problem: The Department of Energy failed to ensure the security of its research and it put American taxpayers on the hook for funding the military rise of our nation’s foremost adversary." The next steps will depend on the response of the Energy Department and the U.S. government to the report’s findings and recommendations.
