Higher Education and National Security

The House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party has asked the National Science Foundation to pause a $67 million research‑security program after concluding that its lead institutions, the University of Washington and Texas A&M University, have maintained 'high‑risk' research relationships with Chinese military‑linked entities. In a letter to NSF Interim Director Brian Stone, Chair Rep. John Moolenaar, R‑Mich., says UW is slated to receive about $50 million and Texas A&M $17 million through the SECURE initiative, even as faculty at both schools have coauthored work in artificial intelligence, advanced materials and other dual‑use fields with the PLA’s National University of Defense Technology, the Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Harbin Institute of Technology and other 'Seven Sons of National Defense' universities that appear on U.S. national‑security lists. The committee argues that institutions entrusted to design tools and processes to safeguard taxpayer‑funded research should not simultaneously be enabling access by a foreign adversary’s defense sector, and it is pressing NSF to conduct a full review of participating universities’ China ties before releasing funds. The push fits into a wider Washington backlash against U.S. academic collaborations with Chinese entities, where national‑security hawks claim systemic vulnerability while many researchers warn that blanket crackdowns risk undercutting scientific openness and driving talent and partnerships elsewhere. Online, the story is already being folded into broader debates over foreign influence on campus, with some users demanding aggressive funding bans and others calling for more transparent, evidence‑based risk assessments instead of broad-brush accusations.