GOP rep calls on U of Michigan to finish Chinese language partnership

A Michigan Republican has known as on the College of Michigan to interrupt ties with Shanghai Jiao Tong College, a Chinese language establishment, alleging potential dangers to analysis integrity and ties to the Chinese language army, in keeping with a duplicate of the letter that U.S. Consultant John Moolenaar despatched to UM president Santa Ono.

“In a lately revealed report, the Home Choose Committee on the Chinese language Communist Occasion … recognized vital dangers to the integrity of the U.S. tutorial analysis enterprise emanating from the [People’s Republic of China], and documented quite a few circumstances through which PRC protection affiliated establishments leveraged the experience and capabilities of American researchers—typically developed with federal analysis funding—to allow the PRC to attain vital technological developments in essential and rising applied sciences with protection purposes,” Moolenaar wrote within the Oct. 31 letter.

He additionally referenced a 2023 incident through which 5 Chinese language nationals—then UM college students—allegedly photographed a coaching train carried out by the Michigan Military Nationwide Guard. All 5, who’ve since graduated, had been charged final month with conspiracy, making false statements and destroying data in a federal countersurveillance investigation, in keeping with an FBI criticism.

All reportedly attended UM through a joint program with Shanghai Jiao Tong College.

“Given these regarding developments, I strongly encourage you to shutter the partnership between U-M and Shanghai Jiao Tong and take the required steps to safeguard the integrity of federally funded analysis at U-M and thoroughly vet worldwide college students finding out on U-M’s Campus,” Moolenaar wrote.

Michigan officers informed MLive final week that they had been reviewing the congressman’s letter.