Chinese Spies Pose Biggest Threat To Research At US Universities

Chinese intelligence services are recruiting students, stealing American research and engaging in harassment of dissidents at U.S. universities, says a new report by the National Counterintelligence and Security Center.

Other foreign spies are targeting universities with similar operations, but the Chinese threat is the most significant, the center said in a 40-page report, “Safeguarding Academia: Protecting Fundamental Research, Intellectual Property, Critical Technologies and the U.S. Research Ecosystem.”

“No nation has targeted Western research, science and technology as aggressively as China,” the report said. “The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Chinese intelligence services represent the broadest, most active and persistent espionage threat to the U.S.”

Russia and other foreign adversaries are engaged in technology theft from American schools to advance their programs but do so less aggressively.

Chinese spies also pose the most significant threat to U.S. technology competitiveness by seeking “all manner of critical and enabling U.S. technologies,” the report said.

Specific sectors include electronics, software, communications equipment and other materials aimed at advancing Chinese economic and military goals.

The Chinese Ministry of State Security, the leading civilian intelligence agency, is working to recruit U.S. experts in critical and emerging technology areas, including artificial intelligence and machine learning, quantum technologies, semiconductors, optics, hypersonics and energy systems.

China also is using its forays into academics to exploit research in genetics, medicine and AI to repress vulnerable populations and target specific people, the report said.