A recent report from a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C. in the United States reveals a concerning lack of vigilance in laboratories at prestigious American universities when it comes to Chinese students with backgrounds related to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the Communist Party. These students are being allowed to participate in cutting-edge military technology research, posing a risk to U.S. national security. The report suggests that these researchers should be expelled from the country.
The American Accountability Foundation (AAF), a government oversight and research organization, recently released a report titled “Assessment of the Chinese Scientist Penetration Threat” that sheds light on the involvement of a new generation of Chinese researchers with complex backgrounds in sensitive laboratories at multiple universities in the United States engaging in military research.
The report, initially published by the news media outlet “Just the News,” identifies 21 Chinese researchers at American universities, including some prestigious institutions. Some of these researchers come from PLA-affiliated “Seven Sons of National Defense” schools or are associated with military companies previously blacklisted or sanctioned by the U.S., having close ties to Chinese military research departments. Others have participated in the notorious “Thousand Talents Program” or have actively supported the Chinese Communist Party, even establishing CCP branches on American campuses.
The universities where these young scholars are based include Harvard, Brown, Cornell, Purdue, Georgia Tech, University of Michigan, University of Florida, University of Pennsylvania, Indiana University, University of California, University of Southern California, Carnegie Mellon University, Stevens Institute of Technology, and more.
The research conducted by these scholars has dual military and civilian applications, covering areas such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, quantum sensing and computing, advanced materials, advanced laser welding, edge computing for drones, virus research, nuclear materials research, grid technology, semiconductor technology for radar and hypersonic systems, among others. Artificial intelligence stands out as a priority research area for both the U.S. and the Chinese military.
The AAF report warns that China is leveraging the U.S. university system to conduct sensitive technological research, with many laboratory leaders being Chinese citizens holding H-1B visas. According to the U.S. Department of Defense statistics, in 2014, nearly a quarter of foreign nationals obtaining sensitive classified information did so through academic institutions. In April 2018, former U.S. Counterespionage Executive Michelle Van Cleave pointed out that the U.S.’s freedom and openness have made it a “spy’s paradise,” with Chinese and Russian agents coming to the U.S. equipped with detailed shopping lists.
This academic year has seen a decrease in Chinese students studying in the U.S., but in the 2024-25 academic year, over 260,000 Chinese students were still studying in the U.S., accounting for more than 30% of international students. Most of these students come from non-military schools or institutions not restricted in sensitive disciplines, while others, including the 21 researchers mentioned in the AAF report, gain access to high-security university laboratories under the guise of faculty, students, researchers, or employees.
The AAF report does not accuse the 21 individuals of engaging in espionage activities or intellectual property theft but deems them high-risk to national security, recommending increased supervision and their expulsion from the U.S. with permanent entry bans.
The extensive 124-page AAF report comprehensively lists the research directions and backgrounds of these scholars with ties to the Chinese regime and provides national security threat assessments. The following are four examples based on the report:
1) Dr. Xie from Xi’an Jiaotong University, currently holding a J-1 student visa as a postdoctoral researcher at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley. Xi’an Jiaotong University, affiliated with the National Defense Science and Technology Bureau, a high-risk organization according to the U.S., is responsible for coordinating defense-related research and weapon development outside the Chinese military.
Dr. Xie’s research focuses on high-performance polymers, materials, and heat-resistant electronic devices, with significant dual-use potential. The materials research is closely related to military applications, with importance in areas such as high-power radar systems, directed energy platforms, and electronic components for aerospace and defense systems. Dr. Xie’s research can enhance the durability and resilience of these systems.
Lawrence National Laboratory has been at the forefront of U.S. technological innovation and has long been a target for foreign intelligence infiltration. The research Dr. Xie is involved in receives funding from the U.S. Department of Energy and involves multiple professors from high-risk Chinese universities, raising concerns.
2) Dr. Cao from Ocean University of China, a postdoctoral researcher and core member of the CRUNCH group at Brown University’s Applied Mathematics Department. As highlighted by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), establishing mathematical frameworks and problem modeling methods to cover the complexity of operational environments is key to synchronized military operations across the land, sea, air, space, and cyber domains.
The CRUNCH team receives support from the U.S. Department of Energy, military research agencies, and various industry partners. Dr. Cao has collaborated with laboratory leaders who are mostly funded by the military.
However, Dr. Cao joined the Chinese Communist Party during her undergraduate studies at Ocean University of China, where she served as the Party branch secretary for the Department of Ocean Engineering. She earned the title of “Outstanding Member” in Party classes for her active participation, receiving consistently high ratings in “ideological and political qualities” for three consecutive years.
3) Dr. Dong, a graduate of Southern University of Science and Technology, is a researcher at Harvard University’s Slayed Laboratory working on exoskeleton research. This research can enhance soldiers’ endurance, strength, and agility, providing significant advantages to ground combat soldiers and enhancing the combat capabilities of U.S. military joint global operations. The U.S. military has identified this capability as transformative.
The report notes the risk of forced technology transfer in Dr. Dong’s research, as well as his active support for the Communist Party during his time in China. In 2020, Dr. Dong enrolled in the Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering at Southern University of Science and Technology, where he submitted his Party application during the first semester, becoming a CCP prospective member.
Dr. Dong is also a member of the Communist Youth League’s “Young Marxists Training Project Backbone Class,” which aims to cultivate “trustworthy successors of Chinese socialism with Chinese characteristics” who are “politically stable, theoretically solid, and outstanding in capabilities.” The report even includes photos of Dr. Dong participating in the summer Youth League training program.
4) Dr. Xu from Tsinghua University, currently an unmanned aerial vehicle technology expert at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), leading the software research laboratory. Tsinghua University is also supervised by the National Defense Science and Technology Bureau, part of the government system aiming to transform university resources for defense purposes.
Dr. Xu has been an active supporter of the Communist Party for many years. The report details how during a speech at Tsinghua University, he praised party leaders Deng Xiaoping and Xi Jinping and expressed loyalty to the CCP. In 2022, while speaking as a graduate representative, he mentioned topics such as “chip warfare,” “trade war,” “writing code on the land of the motherland,” and “software serving the country.”
CMU’s Software Engineering Research Institute is a “federally funded research and development center,” part of a “public-private partnership institution conducting research for the U.S. government (especially the Department of Defense).” The AAF report assesses that upon Dr. Xu’s return to China, he could rapidly enhance the Chinese military’s combat capabilities with his professional expertise. ◇