Waste of the Day: Pentagon Research Boosts China

Topline: Over 9,000 U.S.-funded military research projects in the past decade have been co-authored with people affiliated with the Chinese government, including work on innovations related to drones and nuclear weapons, according to a new Congressional report.

China gets in on these sensitive projects

Key facts: The audit, conducted by the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, and the House Education and Workforce Committee, estimates that hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars have “contributed to China’s technological advancements and military modernization.”

Researchers at U.S. universities often receive funding from the Department of Defense to study technology that will aid “warfighting capabilities.” Many of them later take jobs with the Chinese government, including 2,500 who now work directly for China’s defense research team.

The report claims that China now “can and will use [the research] against U.S. servicemembers in the event of a conflict.”

For example, one professor who received at least $7.8 million from the U.S. to research metallic hydrogen later accepted a job at the Chinese Academy of Science. He presented his research to the Chinese Academy of Engineering Physics, which designs nuclear warheads for the Chinese government.

The audit did not disclose the professor’s name or workplace, but noted that he is still receiving federal funding because he is not currently collaborating with China.

Another scientist received $5 million from the DOD over the course of decades that aided his research into semiconductors made with graphene instead of silicone. Once he made a breakthrough in 2014, he moved to China and opened a special laboratory at Tianjin University based on his findings.

Preparing for war

One UCLA professor received a $500,000 U.S. grant to start an artificial intelligence company in Los Angeles in 2017, but the next year he moved the startup to China. He is researching “high-level robot autonomy and cognitive robot platforms for intelligence and surveillance.”

Other universities, including Georgia Tech and the University of Pittsburgh, have opened campuses in China that, according to the audit, “conceal a sophisticated system for transferring critical U.S. technologies … to blacklisted entities linked to China’s defense and security apparatus.”

The report focuses on the DOD but estimates that an additional 60,000 research projects funded by the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health and more have benefitted China.

Search all federal, state and local government salaries and vendor spending with the AI search bot, Benjamin, at OpenTheBooks.com.

Background: Defense research is just one way that federal funds flow into adversarial countries.

Last year, OpenTheBooks.com and Sen. Joni Ernst quantified $490 million of U.S. money sent to China and $870 million sent to Russia since 2017.

The funds covered a hodgepodge of projects, including $77,000 for Russian podcasts on being queer and $25,000 to help the Chinese surfing community combat climate change.

Summary: American taxpayers are already spending too much to fix domestic issues. There’s certainly no need to be helping rival countries develop their military.

The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com

This article was originally published by RCI and made available via RealClearWire.