John Moolenaar Seeks US Funding Curbs on 58 Chinese Universities

What changed

Republican Representative John Moolenaar has asked the US Defense Department to add 58 Chinese universities and 62 Chinese technology laboratories to its 1286 list, which restricts US research funding involving listed institutions.

The proposed additions include organisations working in semiconductors, artificial intelligence and quantum computing. Tsinghua University is among them. The request is not yet a Defense Department decision.

Why it matters

The list turns university partnerships into a funding question. US institutions working with a listed Chinese university could face a compliance risk because the Defense Department bars research funding to entities collaborating with institutions on the list.

Tsinghua’s possible inclusion carries an added complication: its business school’s advisory board includes the chief executives of Nvidia, Apple and Advanced Micro Devices. Those roles are intended to support ties between American and Chinese companies, but a listing could make such connections harder to maintain alongside federally funded research.

The wider review is already moving in the same direction. In August, the Defense Department said it would investigate 30 US universities over possible collaboration with Chinese institutions on the 1286 list. Whether any of Moolenaar’s proposed additions are approved, and whether Tsinghua or US universities lose particular funding or partnerships, remains unsettled.