Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
The US Department of Defence has asked 30 universities to review their partnerships with mostly Chinese universities and military training institutions, as the Trump administration sharpens its scrutiny of China’s global influence. The Pentagon said the schools have two weeks to complete the audit and end any arrangements seen as problematic, or they could lose funding.
The Pentagon said the move is aimed at protecting taxpayer-funded research from theft and exploitation. In a news release on Monday, Emil Michael, the department’s chief technology officer, said, “The Department of War has zero tolerance for academic partnerships that compromise our national security.”
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The release did not name the universities. However, a US official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters, said the institutions include Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Johns Hopkins University. The schools did not immediately respond to emails from The Associated Press seeking comment.
Sarah Spreitzer, vice president at the American Council on Education, which represents college and university presidents, said the announcement appeared to suggest wrongdoing by the universities without offering evidence. The order follows the Pentagon’s updated list, released last month, of 130 foreign institutions it accused of engaging in “activities that increase the likelihood of US government-funded research and development efforts being misappropriated.” Most of the institutions on the list were Chinese, including the University of Science and Technology of China and the country’s Academy of Military Medical Sciences, though several Iranian and Russian institutions were also named.
Spreitzer said the first version of the list was drawn up during Trump’s first term with help from the American Council on Education. She said most member institutions had moved away from research partnerships with those institutions in the years since, but added that she was concerned universities could now be held responsible for partnerships that existed before the list was created. “We don’t appreciate the implication that we are not good partners on research security, given that we helped create this list, and given that we’ve always partnered with the federal government when there has been national security concerns,” she said.
The audit comes as the Trump administration continues to raise concerns about China’s activities in the Americas, including Chinese ownership of ports at either end of the Panama Canal, infrastructure projects backed by China’s Belt and Road initiative in the region and Chinese investment in telecommunications. The Justice Department is also investigating whether Harvard University allowed Chinese donors to create scholarships that exclude American students, adding to a series of federal inquiries involving the Ivy League institution.
A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy said Beijing opposed what it called the politicisation of “normal scientific, educational, and academic exchanges”. “The US side,” the statement said, “should abandon the Cold War mentality and foster an open, fair, and non-discriminatory environment for educational, scientific, and people-to-people exchanges between China and the United States.” Overall, the Pentagon’s order has opened a fresh round of scrutiny of university ties with foreign institutions, while drawing objections from both higher education representatives and China.
With PTI Inputs
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
