The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party is urging the University of Michigan to terminate its partnership with Shanghai Jiao Tong University, citing national security risks.
According to Chairman John Moolenaar’s September report, “CCP on the Quad: How American Taxpayers and Universities Fund the CCP’s Advanced Military and Technological Research,” U.S.-China academic collaborations, such as this one, have enabled China’s military modernization by facilitating access to sensitive research.
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In a letter sent to Michigan President Santa Ono on Oct. 31, Moolenaar requested that he “conduct a comprehensive national security review of this partnership” with Shanghai Jiao Tong, and ultimately “shutter the partnership between U-M and Shanghai Jiao Tong and take the necessary steps to safeguard the integrity of federally funded research at U-M and carefully vet international students studying on U-M’s campus.”
Moolenaar cited similar partnerships ending at other universities like UC Berkeley and Georgia Tech in response to concerns from the recent committee report.
The joint institute between U-M and Shanghai Jiao Tong includes 35 labs funded in part by China’s 863 Program, a government initiative that accelerates China’s military technology advancements, according to Moolenaar.
Notably, Shanghai Jiao Tong has helped develop critical defense technologies, including nuclear weapons, carrier rockets, and submarines, which Moolenaar warned represents a threat to U.S. national security.
A key element of the U-M and SJTU collaboration is the presence of Chinese students from SJTU on Michigan’s campus, which has raised espionage concerns.
Recently, five students from the joint institute faced charges for allegedly lying to federal investigators about their activities after trespassing onto a National Guard installation. In a similar 2020 incident, two Chinese nationals from Michigan were sentenced to prison for photographing sensitive military areas.
According to Moolenaar, such events exemplify the risks of this collaboration, which he described as a “sophisticated military-academic-intelligence nexus.”
Moolenaar’s letter to President Ono also underscored the strategic importance of SJTU to the CCP’s military ambitions, noting that SJTU entered into an agreement with the People’s Liberation Army’s Strategic Support Force in 2017 to train “high-end new combat forces,” with freshmen required to participate in regimented military training.
U-M’s joint institute is also said to have contributed to defense research in areas like nano and microfabrication technology, fields critical to China’s defense sector. Moolenaar has also stated that graduates of the joint institute have gone on to work for entities like the 8th Academy of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, a company blacklisted by the U.S. for missile development.
Campus Reform has contacted the University of Michigan for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
This article was originally published at campusreform.org
