Green Bay Reporter

U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Green Bay) and Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) collaborated on a joint letter addressing research security concerns and sent it to both the president and the chancellor of the University of California Berkeley. In light of this situation, the House Committee has launched an investigation into the university to gain a deeper understanding of its connections with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

The CCP abuses seemingly innocuous research collaborations like the one between Berkeley and Tsinghua University to advance China's science and technology goals at the expense of the U.S. Under the CCP strategy of military-civil fusion, seemingly civilian technologies — such as those developed through university collaborations — are mobilized to support the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

China has sent thousands of military scientists abroad to gather scientific-military information, obtain sensitive details regarding research projects and emerging technologies, and to gain access to American academics, their research and their networks.

Gallagher, chairman of the Select Committee on the CCP, and Rep. Virginia Foxx, chairwoman of the Education and the Workforce committee, collaborated on a joint letter expressing research security concerns to the president of the University of California Berkeley, Dr. Michael Drake, and Chancellor Carol Christ.

The committee is concerned about the CCP's potential access to research through Berkeley's Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute. As a result of these concerns, the House Committee has initiated an investigation into the university to better comprehend its connections with the CCP.

"We write to you to express our grave concern about the University of California, Berkeley’s joint institute with state-controlled Tsinghua University and the Shenzhen government," the letter reads, according to The Select Committee on the CCP. "With locations in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the U.S., the Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute (TBSI) gives the PRC easy access to Berkeley research and expertise, which the Chinese Communist Party can then use to its economic, technological and military advantage."

The lawmakers' letter expresses major concerns about TBSI. It questions the possibility of the CCP gaining access to research that could strengthen its military or similar capabilities and raises concerns about TBSI collaborating with Chinese universities or banned companies. Additionally, Berkeley's failure to disclose funding of $240 million from the city of Shenzhen and Tsinghua is also highlighted in the letter.

The letter sent to TBSI and Berkeley requests a range of documents and information, including a list of all foreign funding received by TBSI. Additionally, the letter contains crucial questions, such as whether the University of California (UC) was aware of Berkeley's collaboration with Chinese universities. The deadline for submitting the requested information and answering the questions is July 27.

"Despite this extensive collaboration, publicly available information suggests that Berkeley has failed to disclose properly its contracts with its PRC (People's Republican of China) partners as required by law," the letter reads. "Specifically, section 117 of the Higher Education Act requires institutions of higher education that receive federal financial assistance to disclose any gifts received from, and contracts with, a foreign source that, alone or combined, are valued at $250,000 or more in a calendar year. Berkeley appears to have never declared any gift or contract from the PRC government, notwithstanding a reported agreement by the Shenzhen government to provide $220 million to build a campus in Shenzhen."