Pentagon orders 30 US universities to scrutinise ties with Chinese research partners

The Pentagon has ordered 30 US universities to conduct sweeping audits of their foreign research partnerships, including collaborations with Chinese institutions and organisations associated with former Confucius Institutes, or risk becoming ineligible for future federal funding.

The Department of Defence said on Monday that the unnamed universities must review their academic, financial and research relationships with foreign “entities of concern” and determine whether sensitive or export-controlled research had been exposed.

The institutions must report their findings and proposed mitigation measures – including the termination of partnerships deemed problematic – to the department by August 31, giving them two weeks to complete the reviews.

The department did not identify the universities or specify how many of the notifications concerned ties with China rather than Russia or Iran.

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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The audits concern collaborations with institutions included on a list issued under Section 1286 of the 2019 National Defence Authorisation Act, as well as organisations the department described as being associated with “rebranded Confucius Institutes”.