Researchers Must Be Wise to China’s Exploitation of Data, US Official Says

Members of Congress on Thursday pressed Biden administration officials on measures to protect cutting-edge research conducted in the U.S. from being used to benefit China.

“The Chinese Communist Party has made it clear they intend to surpass us as the global leader in science and technology, and they have no qualms about using intellectual property theft, force technology acquisition, and other illicit means to do so. That’s why this committee has been proactive in our response to this threat and has passed multiple bills to protect American research,” Oklahoma Republican Representative Frank Lucas said at a hearing of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.

The concern expressed by hearing participants echoes FBI director Christopher Wray’s remarks in October that Beijing poses an unprecedented threat with its government-directed technology theft and wielding of disruptive tech like artificial intelligence and biotechnology without the legal constraints of its democratic rivals.

Newsweek reached out to the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., with a written request for comment.

“The government needs to have timely, clear and uniform guidance on this issue for our agencies and our researchers,” Lucas said. “It’s unacceptable that we don’t have that,” he said, pointing out that agencies and industry stakeholders have complained of the difficulties of implementing safeguards on research in the absence of government standards.

In her remarks, Biden’s Science Adviser Arati Prabhakar said China differs from most other nations due to its efforts to secure foreign technology by any means necessary, its use of unfair competition, and its government-mandated fusion of its military and civilian research sectors.

China is “the only competitor with both the intent to reshape the global order and the ability to harness both military and economic power to advance that objective, and when you look at that economic and military competition, technology and R&D are central to this competition,” she said.

China is the “only competitor with both the intent to reshape the international order and the ability to harness significant military and economic power to advance that objective,” Prabhakar said. “Technology and research and development (R&D) are central to this competition.”

However, Prabhakar said that Washington’s efforts to safeguard its scientific advances must be tempered by respect for the individual and rejecting racism and xenophobia.

Citing the major role immigrants and international collaborations have played in American technological and research prowess, she stated: “It clearly just wouldn’t be to our advantage to create an atmosphere that is hostile to attracting the world’s greatest minds.”

Prabhakar, who also heads the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, said the path to striking this balance has been “complex” and longer than anticipated. She said the administration is finalizing new guidelines to help universities and other research institutions restrict “malign foreign talent.”

She also referred to newly drafted disclosure forms whereby researchers are expected to report sources of funding and potential conflicts of interest, developed by the National Science and Technology Council.

“That’s what’s accomplished at this point. What we’re working on right now very in a very focused manner is guidance for research security programs in universities,” Prabhakar said.