Chinese Military May Gain From Western University Ties, Report Warns

The Chinese military is expanding its collaborations with foreign universities, sometimes concealing its scientists’ military ties, according to an Australian report published Tuesday. The report raises questions about whether countries wary of China’s rising power are in fact directly contributing to its military advancement.

In the past decade, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army has sent 2,500 military scientists, researchers and engineers abroad, according to the report from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, a nonpartisan research institution in Canberra, the capital.

While they work with academics and scientists at institutions around the world, they are especially concentrated in the United States, Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, the so-called Five Eyes nations that broadly share intelligence.