Congress should bring campus transparency into the defense bill

Excerpt

The National Defense Authorization Act has become one of Congress’s main vehicles for countering China’s military and technological ambitions. This year’s annual defense bill should also address a gap closer to home: the weak disclosure regime governing foreign money flowing into American universities and the risks that can follow.

America’s higher education system underpins U.S. national security. Its institutions educate the scientists and engineers America needs, conduct federally funded research, and generate discoveries that shape future battlefield advantage. Those same strengths make colleges and universities attractive to foreign governments seeking influence, access, and proximity to sensitive research networks. China sits at the center of that concern because Beijing treats higher education as another arena for strategic advantage.

Recent congressional investigations have put those risks into sharp focus. The House Select Committee on Countering the Chinese Communist Party and the House Education and Workforce Committee found that hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. taxpayer-funded research contributed to China’s military and technological advancement through joint research and university partnerships. The committees highlighted collaborations in sensitive fields such as artificial intelligence, quantum technology, hypersonics and nuclear physics. They also raised concerns about U.S.-China joint institutes connected to Chinese institutions with defense or security ties.

Craig Singleton serves as a senior fellow at the non-partisan Foundation for Defense of Democracies, having previously served as a U.S. diplomat.