China says US should stop discriminatory measures against Chinese research institutions

HONG KONG: China's Commerce Ministry urged the United States on Friday (Oct 23) to "respect the facts" and immediately end what it called discriminatory measures against Chinese research institutions.

The ministry also said in its statement that strengthening Chinese-US scientific research cooperation serves the common interest of both sides.

The comments were made in relation to the US Department of Defense putting US research funding restrictions on dozens of Chinese universities. A Republican lawmaker earlier this month called on the department to add 58 more Chinese schools and 62 Chinese technology labs to what is known as the 1286 list.

Several of the Chinese labs and schools named by the lawmaker focus on areas such as semiconductors, AI and quantum computing, according to a letter reviewed by Reuters.

"The US's actions are essentially coercing US research institutions to take sides, deliberately undermining normal China-US scientific research cooperation," the Commerce Ministry said.

"This will only weaken the US's own scientific and technological progress," it said.

The Department of Defense, which US President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth call the Department of War, is barred from providing research funding to any entity that works with Chinese universities on the list. The department says collaboration with schools on the list a compliance issue that puts US federal funding at risk.