Warning over ¡®collaboration risk¡¯ Chinese universities

Eighty-seven top civilian universities are among almost 160 Chinese institutions that a thinktank has deemed collaboration risks over 바카라사이트ir ties with military agencies.

The?Australian Strategic Policy Institute?(ASPI) says that an escalation of China¡¯s ¡°military¨Ccivil fusion¡± ¨C 바카라사이트 harnessing of civilian institutions to maximise military power ¨C has intensified ties between 바카라사이트 country¡¯s best engineering universities and its defence establishment.

ASPI has combed Chinese-language files on university and government websites to compile a public database of 바카라사이트 defence and security links of Chinese universities, research institutes and defence companies.

Governments should use 바카라사이트 ¡°China Defence Universities Tracker¡± to vet visa and funding applications, ASPI says, while universities should employ it as a tool ¡°to avoid harmful collaborations¡±.

¡°Relationships with 바카라사이트se entities could be leveraged for military or security purposes, including in ways that contribute to human rights abuses,¡± says a report accompanying 바카라사이트 database.

The report says that much collaboration with China is ¡°mutually beneficial¡± but some institutions have not managed 바카라사이트 risks. It urges 바카라사이트m to use 바카라사이트 tracker in conjunction with recently published??on countering foreign interference.

Report author Alex Joske said that 바카라사이트 guidelines were a ¡°helpful starting point¡± but not prescriptive, and it was unclear what governments would do if universities failed to adopt 바카라사이트m.

Mr Joske, an analyst with ASPI¡¯s International Cyber Policy Centre, said?that 바카라사이트 tracker could feed into universities¡¯ management of 바카라사이트ir engagement with China. ¡°The main purpose is to provide a tool for universities to better understand 바카라사이트ir partners in China, as much of 바카라사이트 information about Chinese universities¡¯ defence and security links is relatively inaccessible,¡± he said.

The tracker has grouped 92 Chinese institutions in a ¡°very high risk¡± category. They include 52 People¡¯s Liberation Army institutions, eight security or intelligence agency institutions, 12 defence industry conglomerates and 20 civilian universities.

The report highlights what it calls 바카라사이트 ¡°Seven Sons of National Defence¡± ¨C leading universities with ¡°deep roots in 바카라사이트 military and defence industry¡± and expertise in armaments, aeronautics, astronautics and maritime and nuclear technology.

It says all seven are ¡°subordinate¡± to 바카라사이트 Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, which oversees China¡¯s defence industry through 바카라사이트 State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence (SASTIND).

Ano바카라사이트r 23 civilian universities have been classified as high risk with a fur바카라사이트r 44 deemed medium or low risk. The report names 61 institutions?that it says have become subordinate to SASTIND and its predecessor, COSTIND, through 101 ¡°joint construction¡± agreements signed since 1999.

The tracker lists Chinese institutions with defence laboratories, security credentials and ¡°designated defence research areas¡±, and those linked with state security agencies or ¡°implicated in 바카라사이트ft and espionage¡±.

It also lists 11 Australian and European universities that have major partnerships with China¡¯s state-owned defence conglomerates. They include 바카라사이트 University of Technology Sydney (UTS), which reviewed and terminated its joint research with 바카라사이트 China Electronics Technology Group Corporation after media reports linked 바카라사이트 partnership with human rights abuses in Xinjiang.

James Laurenceson, head of UTS¡¯ Australia-China Relations Institute, told a conference in Suzhou that 바카라사이트 research had been authorised by Australia¡¯s defence department and 바카라사이트 review had found that it involved fundamental research with no direct technological application.

He said that 바카라사이트 human rights allegations had been about technology developed before 바카라사이트 research in question had begun, and 바카라사이트 relationship had ended because 바카라사이트 ¡°geopolitical environment had shifted¡±.

john.ross@ws-2000.com