Committee on Education and Workforce Chairman Tim Walberg (R-MI) and Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI) have released a new report outlining concerns about U.S. universities’ partnerships with Chinese institutions, which they say may threaten national security.
“I’m pleased to publish this report with Chairman Moolenaar,” said Chairman Walberg. “It highlights the ever-growing threat of the Chinese Communist Party exploiting our education system to their military advantage. No American university should be helping the Chinese Communist Party through dangerous research partnerships masquerading as purely ‘academic.’ This is why we need legislation like the DETERRENT Act and the SAFE Research Act to protect our country from malicious foreign influence.”
Chairman Moolenaar added, “American universities should never be a pipeline for the Chinese Communist Party’s military ambitions, and this report reveals alarming new details about their partnerships with CCP-controlled institutions. These collaborations empower China’s military and exploit research paid for by American taxpayers. That’s why I am working with Chairman Walberg to pass the SAFE Research Act, which will end joint institutes, and stop our tax dollars from aiding our adversaries.”
The investigation identified more than one hundred additional academic partnerships between U.S. universities and Chinese entities that are considered risky, with over fifty described as posing a direct risk to U.S. national security.
“Joint Institutes—entities based in China that pair American universities with Chinese institutions—are not typical academic collaborations that benefit students from both countries. They are under the thumb of the CCP. They operate under PRC law; are run by Chinese-majority boards and have Party presence in leadership; and are aligned with the CCP’s national strategy, including its military buildup,” wrote Walberg and Moolenaar in their statement. “Chinese government funding dominates these joint institutes, and the use of funds is restricted by law to align with CCP goals.”
Examples highlighted in the report include joint degree programs between U.S. universities and China’s “Seven Sons of National Defense,” submarine engineering research collaborations between University of Houston and Dalian Maritime University, dual degrees involving Shenyang Aerospace University—a university supervised by a blacklisted Chinese military company—and Southern Illinois University Carbondale, as well as mechanical design programs linking North China Institute of Aerospace Engineering (controlled by blacklisted companies) with Saint Martin’s University in Washington state.
The committees’ previous work includes a September 2024 investigation titled “CCP on the Quad,” which found that federal research funding from agencies such as the Department of Defense, Department of Energy, and National Science Foundation contributed to advancements in nuclear technology, artificial intelligence, robotics, and quantum computing by China.
Following these findings, Chairman Moolenaar authored the SAFE Research Act—which was included in the National Defense Authorization Act passed by the House on September 10—to block federal STEM funding from going to universities or researchers collaborating with China’s military or intelligence services.
The full report is available under the title “Joint Institutes, Divided Loyalties.”
