The Donald Trump administration asked major U.S. universities to reexamine their academic partnerships with foreign institutions, including China.
On the 18th (local time), the Guardian reported that the U.S. Department of Defense notified 30 U.S. universities to review their partnerships with foreign universities and research institutions and report the results by the end of this month. The 30 universities that received this notice reportedly include Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Georgetown University, Cornell University, Duke University, New York University (NYU), and University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley).
In particular, the Ministry of National Defense ordered that any partnerships deemed to pose a threat to national security be terminated. Failure to comply could result in a suspension of federal research funding. Emil Michael, the Ministry of National Defense chief technology officer (CTO), said, "We will never tolerate academic partnerships that undermine national security."
The Trump administration considers the possibility that hostile countries such as China could obtain advanced technology and research results through U.S. universities and research institutions to be a national security threat, and is tightening related regulations.
Earlier, in on the previous month, the Ministry of National Defense released a list of 130 foreign universities and research institutions it judged to pose a risk of improper leaks of U.S. research and development (R&D) results. The list included the Aerospace Information Research Institute and the National Time Service Center, research institutes under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, as well as Fudan University in Shanghai, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shandong University, and the University of International Relations.
China pushed back, saying the United States is politicizing normal academic exchanges. A Spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in the United States said, "The United States should abandon a Cold War mentality and create an open, fair, and non-discriminatory environment for bilateral education and science exchanges."