What next for scientific collaboration as stand-off between China and the west heats up?
Fears over espionage and links to the Chinese military is disrupting long-running collaborations
Governments around the world – led by the US – are moving to restrict and control academic collaborations with China. What will this mean for research groups and universities on both sides?
The latest in the clampdown on links with China is the closure of two major research centres involving Imperial College London and Chinese companies linked to the nation’s defence industry after the UK government denied permission for work to continue. The move follows warnings from the FBI and MI5 in July that China was involved in economic espionage and presented ‘the biggest long-term threat’ to economic and national security.
How times have changed. Back in 2012, Chinese investment in UK universities was encouraged and welcomed. Now, academic partnerships particularly those involving ‘dual-use’ technologies – which have civilian uses, but also potential military applications – have fallen from favour. The Avic Centre – a collaboration between Imperial and the Aviation Industry Corporation of China – was set up to advance aerospace structural design and manufacturing, while the second centre, involving Imperial and the Beijing Institute of Aeronautical Materials, focused on materials characterisation, processing and modelling.