American academia and policymakers must strengthen vetting for J-1 and other visa applicants with ties to high-risk institutions or programs.
A new report from the American Accountability Foundation (AAF) calls on U.S. academia and policymakers to take stronger measures to protect critical science and technology from communist China.
The report, titled “Chinese Scientist Infiltration Initial Report,” is the first to analyze a dataset of more than 10,000 Chinese scholars and researchers currently or recently affiliated with American universities and national labs under J-1 visas. These visas, intended for exchange programs funded by governments or institutions, historically required holders to return home for two years after their programs to apply their knowledge domestically.
In late 2024, however, the Biden administration’s Department of State revised the Exchange Visitor Skills List, removing this two-year home residency requirement for J-1 visa holders from 34 countries, including China. This change, applied retroactively in many cases, eases pathways for such researchers to remain in or return to the U.S. — potentially amplifying risks at a time when national security concerns are mounting.
Profiles of 21 Academics
The AAF profiles 21 Chinese academics identified through a preventive risk assessment based on four critical factors: ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), affiliations in China, areas of study or research in the U.S., and the sources of funding. It is important to note that there is no evidence of espionage or illegal activity in these 21 cases.
Out of the 21 individuals, four have confirmed CCP membership, with others linked through events or programs. Moreover, 16 of them attended universities with connections to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) or oversight by the State Administration for Science, Technology, and Industry for National Defense — many of these universities fall on the U.S. Commerce Department’s Entity List for strict export controls on dual-use technologies (which serve both civilian and military purposes).
For instance, one of the 21 Chinese individuals studied at Northwestern Polytechnical University, one of China’s “Seven Sons of National Defense.” The term refers to seven elite public universities directly overseen by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. While these schools enjoy strong academic reputations in China and attract talented students who may pursue purely civilian careers, their deep military ties make them high-risk partners for Western collaboration, as noted by U.S. agencies and think tanks.
Another red flag the AAF report raises is that all 21 individuals study or work in sensitive dual-use fields such as semiconductors, AI, quantum computing, and viral pathogens. These researchers are embedded at top U.S. institutions — Harvard, Carnegie Mellon, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and others — often contributing to federally funded work via agencies such as the Department of Energy, the National Institutes of Health, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, the Office of Naval Research, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
Americans Subsidizing Chinese Advancement
The AAF argues that American dollars are unwittingly subsidizing advancements that could bolster China’s military capabilities. Therefore, the report recommends expelling the profiled individuals or denying re-entry. However, such steps would face significant legal hurdles absent proven wrongdoing. Inaction, however, is no longer tenable either. --->READ MORE HERE
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| Fox News |
A top GOP leader said US nonprofits must 'refuse to act as instruments of hostile foreign governments'
Hours before banging the gavel to commence a hearing Tuesday to investigate the dynamic of "malign foreign influence," House Committee on Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith escalated his investigation into the China-based, American-born Marxist tech tycoon, Neville Roy Singham, who has allegedly been "sowing chaos and spreading Chinese propaganda, possibly in coordination with a foreign government."
Fox News Digital has obtained copies of letters that Smith sent on Monday night to two U.S. nonprofits – BreakThrough BT Media Inc. and Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research – demanding records of their ties to Singham and alleging they are promoting propaganda aligned with the Chinese Communist Party.
At 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Smith will chair a hearing called, "Foreign Influence in American Non-profits: Unmasking Threats from Beijing and Beyond." The hearing will be broadcast online at the committee’s website. Singham, Tricontinental and BreakThrough BT Media, which publishes articles as "BreakThrough News," didn't respond to requests for comment.
Congressional investigators say the Singham network sits at the center of a malign foreign influence operation that allegedly exploits U.S. nonprofit laws to inject anti-American propaganda into domestic protest movements and sow discord from within the United States.
In separate letters, Smith demanded records from BreakThrough and Tricontinental, warning that both tax-exempt organizations may be operating outside their lawful purpose as possible unregistered foreign agents, while helping to fuel domestic unrest under the guise of journalism and academic research.
The letters describe a full-spectrum operation, with funding aligned with foreign interests flowing into tax-exempt nonprofits that produce ideological research, media narratives and social media messaging, which are then deployed onto U.S. streets through tightly choreographed protests.
Over the past year, Fox News Digital has documented a pattern of coordinated protests by socialist, communist and Marxist groups, revealing a synchronized ecosystem of funding, media amplification, ideological framing and street-level mobilization that aligns with the strategic interests of hostile foreign governments, including the People’s Republic of China.
"Tax-exempt status is a privilege not a right," Smith told Fox News Digital. "Nonprofits must remain accountable and refuse to act as instruments of hostile foreign governments."
The Ways and Means Committee "continues to investigate how foreign money and foreign-linked networks are funneled through tax-exempt entities to sow discord and unrest in our society," he said. "That’s why we’re demanding answers from Tricontinental and BreakThrough about their funding streams, activities and communications with CCP-linked individuals, including Neville Roy Singham." --->READ MORE HEREFollow link below to a relevant story:
+++++Watchdog reveals Chinese research threats at US defense labs+++++
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