https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-chinese-military-scientists-canadian-universities/

Chinese researchers test the supercomputer Tianhe No.1 at the National University of Defense Technology in Changsha city, central Chinas Hunan province, on Oct. 27, 2009.

Canadian universities have for years collaborated with a top Chinese army scientific institution on hundreds of advanced-technology research projects, generating knowledge that can help drive China’s defence sector in cutting-edge, high-tech industries.

Researchers at 50 Canadian universities, including the University of Waterloo, University of Toronto, University of British Columbia and McGill University, have conducted and published joint scientific papers from 2005 to 2022 with scientists connected to China’s military, according to research provided to The Globe and Mail by U.S. strategic intelligence company Strider Technologies Inc.

Strider found that in the past five years, academics at 10 of Canada’s leading universities published more than 240 joint papers on topics included quantum cryptography, photonics and space science with Chinese military scientists at the National University of Defence Technology (NUDT). Some of these NUDT researchers are experts in missile performance and guidance systems, mobile robotics and automated surveillance.

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) has warned that Beijing is increasingly using joint academic research programs to obtain innovative science and technology for economic and military advantage.

NUDT was blacklisted by the United States in 2015 – subject to export restrictions – under former U.S. president Barack Obama’s administration because Washington believes it “is involved, or poses a significant risk of being or becoming involved in activities that are contrary to the national-security or foreign-policy interests of the United States.”

NUDT reports to the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Military Commission and has been lauded by President Xi Jinping as a “highland for training high-quality new military personnel and for independent innovation in national defence technology.”

University of CalgaryConcordia UniversityMcMaster UniversityUniversity of VictoriaSimon Fraser UniversityUniversity of B.C.University of TorontoMcGill UniversityUniversity of AlbertaUniversity of Waterloo

THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: Strider Technologies, Inc.

data

share

Along with public Canadian universities, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), a federal funding agency, has been contributing to projects conducted with Chinese military scientists.

In 2021, however, Ottawa introduced tougher guidelines for NSERC. Researchers applying for NSERC grants would have to complete a security risk assessment. Any project assessed to be “higher risk” would undergo a national-security review by Canadian security agencies and a team of scientists. If judged to be too high risk, the research will not receive federal funding.

But that hasn’t deterred Canadian universities from collaborating with China. Despite the new security rules, none of the Top 10 universities involved in projects with NUDT, the People’s Liberation Army’s main scientific institution, would commit to barring their academics from doing further research with the university.

Margaret McCuaig-Johnston, former executive vice-president of NSERC and current senior fellow at the Institute for Science, Society and Policy at the University of Ottawa, says Canada should not be partnering with China on research.

Margaret McCuaig-Johnston, former executive vice-president of NSERC and now senior fellow at the Institute for Science, Society and Policy at the University of Ottawa, noted that the new security guidelines only cover federal grants and not individual academic research with China’s military. China offers a lot of money to Canadian researchers and universities to work with them, she said.