Pentagon orders universities to review partnerships with China in two weeks or face funding cuts

The US Department of Defense has ordered 30 American universities to review partnerships with mostly Chinese universities and military training institutions, as President Donald Trump's administration closely examines the country's growing global influence.

The universities will lose funding if they do not complete the review and end any arrangements deemed problematic within the next two weeks. The Pentagon said on Monday that the goal is to protect budget-funded research from theft and exploitation.

The “Department of War” – the Trump administration’s name for the Department of Defense – “has zero tolerance for academic partnerships that threaten our national security,” Emil Michael, the Pentagon’s chief technology officer, said in a statement.

The statement did not name the universities, but an official, who did not want to be named, said they included Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Johns Hopkins University.

Sara Sprajcer, vice president of the American Council on Education, which represents college and university presidents, expressed concern that the Department's announcement suggests, without any evidence, that universities are involved in illegal acts.

The Pentagon last month released an updated list of 130 foreign institutions it accused of engaging in "activities that increase the likelihood of misuse of U.S. government-funded research and development efforts."

The vast majority of these institutions are Chinese, including the University of Science and Technology of China and the Academy of Military Medicine of China, and several Iranian and Russian ones are also on the list.

The first version of the list was compiled during Trump's first term, and Spreitzer said that since then most universities have moved away from research partnerships with institutions on the list, adding that the Education Council has always cooperated with the federal government when there were national security concerns.

The Trump administration is expressing deep concerns about China's activities in the US, challenging Chinese ownership of ports at both ends of the Panama Canal, fighting infrastructure projects funded by China's Belt and Road Initiative in the region, and Chinese investments in the telecommunications sector.

The Justice Department is investigating whether Harvard University is allowing Chinese donors to exclude American students from scholarships, part of a series of federal investigations launched by the Trump administration in a crackdown on top US universities.

A Chinese Embassy spokesman said in a statement that China opposes "the politicization of normal scientific, educational and academic exchanges."

"The American side," the statement continued, "should abandon the Cold War mentality and foster an open, fair, and non-discriminatory environment for educational, scientific, and people-to-people exchanges between China and the United States."