A Look at the Chinese Research Groups Ottawa Calls a Threat

Ottawa’s Concerns with Chinese Research Groups: A Closer Examination

January 18, 2024 TruthUSA

Canada unveiled a list of foreign universities and research
institutions linked to military, national defence, and state security
entities. Predominantly composed of entities based in China, these
organizations are identified as presenting the highest risk to
Canadian national security.

Under the policy, Canadian researchers seeking federal funding must
determine if their field falls under the listed “sensitive”
technology category, including advanced energy technology, artificial
intelligence, aerospace, sensing and surveillance, and biometrics.
Projects in these areas won’t receive government funding if any
involved researchers are affiliated with or receive funding or
in-kind support from institutions linked to military, national
defence, or state security entities that pose a risk to Canada’s
national security.

Seven Sons of National Defence

The Seven Sons of National Defence refers to the seven universities
directly overseen by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information
Technology. This includes Beihang University, the Beijing Institute
of Technology, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin Institute of
Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics,
Nanjing University of Science and Technology, and the Northwestern
Polytechnical University.

The “China Defence Universities Tracker,” established by the
Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), has designated all of
them as posing “very high” security risks due to their close
collaborations with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). The
tool aims to
monitor the Chinese regime’s policy of merging the civilian sector
with its military apparatus to enhance military power, known as
“military–civil fusion.”

In addition to being newly included in Canada’s Named Research
Organizations list, these institutions are also listed on the Entity
List or the End-User List published by countries like the United
States and Japan. These lists place them under trade restrictions or
security warnings.

Beihang University

Beihang
University, previously known as the Beijing University of
Aeronautics and Astronautics, focuses on aviation and spaceflight
research. It has actively contributed to the development of Chinese
military aircraft and missiles, according to the ASPI. Beihang is
listed in both the
Japan End-User
List and the
U.S. Department of
Commerce Entity List. Additionally, its subsidiary, Beijing
Tianhua, was added to the U.S. Entity List, alongside 17 aliases.