Recently, the U.S. Department of Education, in conjunction with the Office of the U.S. Director of National Intelligence and the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, issued a new guideline to all universities across the United States. The aim of this guideline is to help universities mitigate threats originating from foreign entities that impact various aspects of academic and research activities.
In a statement released on August 25th, the Department of Education emphasized the importance of vigilance against the increasing foreign threats facing American universities and providing strategies to address these threats. The guideline, named “Safeguarding Academia,” highlights how scientific research in American academic institutions, especially in emerging technology fields, has become a target for foreign intelligence agencies.
The guideline presents numerous examples and countermeasures, focusing notably on the threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It states that no country, particularly China, aggressively targets Western research, science, and technology like the CCP and its intelligence agencies, creating extensive and ongoing espionage threats against the United States.
According to the guideline, the CCP actively seeks to obtain critical American technologies, including electronics, software, communication equipment, and materials, to advance both its economic and military objectives. Moreover, China attempts to recruit experts in key and emerging technology fields in the U.S., covering areas such as artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML), quantum technology, semiconductors, optics, hypersonic and energy systems.
The guideline outlines various threats posed to universities by foreign governments, including talent poaching, spy recruitment, inducement of intelligence through collaboration, cyber attacks, and transnational repression.
Paul Moore, the Chief Investigative Consultant at the U.S. Department of Education, stated that hostile foreign forces have been exploiting the openness of American universities for decades to steal critical technology and research, plant spies, and engage in espionage activities against the U.S. He urged educational institutions to utilize the information provided in the guideline to fulfill their responsibility in preventing and mitigating malicious foreign activities.
Acting Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, James Cangialosi, indicated that the guideline highlights the increasing severity of security threats and offers practical mitigation strategies. The upcoming new academic year presents a crucial opportunity for academic institutions to incorporate this information.
Additionally, the guideline addresses China’s transnational repression activities, emphasizing that the actions of the Chinese government, CCP, and its intelligence agencies should not be equated with the Chinese people or Chinese-American individuals who are often targets of persecution by the Chinese regime.
It is crucial to stress that the focus is on the Chinese government, CCP, and its intelligence agencies, rather than the Chinese people or Chinese-American individuals who frequently face persecution by the Chinese government.
The guideline explains transnational repression on campuses as foreign regimes and their agents attacking foreign students in American universities who openly criticize their home country governments, making these students targets for exercising their basic freedom of speech rights in the U.S.
The guideline cites the case of Chinese international student Wu Xiaolei at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, who was sentenced to nine months in prison for tracking and threatening a fellow Chinese student who displayed pro-democracy leaflets on campus and reported to Chinese authorities.
Several human rights organizations have cited examples of CCP’s transnational repression in their reports. Freedom House in its 2021 special report “The Unseen, Unsettling Reach” highlighted that the CCP conducts the most complex, globalized, and comprehensive transnational repression campaign in the world, targeting various communities with a range of methods on an unprecedented scale.
In a report by Amnesty International in 2024, it documented 32 Chinese international students studying at overseas universities, including in the U.S., experiencing surveillance, harassment, intimidation originating from the CCP, with their families in China facing pressure or punishments as well.