Joint Institutes, Divided Loyalties
How the Chinese Communist Party Exploits U.S. University Partnerships to Empower China's Military and Repression
Over the past two years, the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party and the Committee on Education and the Workforce’s (Committees) investigations revealed how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) exploits U.S. universities to fuel its military and technological rise.
Last fall, the Committees released CCP on the Quad, a report exposing how American researchers—many funded by the Department of Defense (DOD), Department of Energy, and National Science Foundation—enabled major advancements by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in nuclear technology, artificial intelligence, robotics, and quantum computing. The report also revealed that U.S.-PRC joint institutes facilitate technology transfer and pose national security risks.
This report provides new findings on joint institutes and other problematic partnerships between U.S. universities and the PRC, new information on stepped-up enforcement of foreign gift disclosure rules and university responses. This investigation:
1. Further highlights the risks these partnerships pose,
2. Exposes universities that continue to ignore the risks,
3. Identifies dozens of not-yet-reported academic collaborations that create risks to U.S. national security,
4. Examines changes in university disclosures of foreign funding, and
5. Reveals the impact of the Trump Administration’s stepped-up enforcement of foreign gift reporting requirements.
Joint Institutes—entities based in China that pair American universities with Chinese institutions—are not typical academic collaborations that benefit students from both countries. They are under the thumb of the CCP. They operate under PRC law; are run by Chinese-majority boards and have Party presence in leadership; and are aligned with the CCP’s national strategy, including its military buildup. Chinese government funding dominates these joint institutes, and the use of funds is restricted by law to align with CCP goals. Curriculum and research prioritize CCP-defined goals—especially in military-relevant science and technology fields. Finally, U.S. institutions agree to PRC-imposed limits on academic freedom, speech, and governance independence.
Since the time of the release of our report and our continued investigations, eight universities chose to do the right thing for academic freedom and U.S. national security by shuttering their joint institutes with Chinese partners. These include the University of California, Berkeley; Georgia Institute of Technology; University of Michigan; University of Pittsburgh; Oakland University; University of Detroit Mercy; Eastern Michigan University; and University of Illinois.
But many others have not. Last fall, the Committees identified high-risk joint institutes at the following universities, all of which have failed to act: Duke University; University of Arizona; University of Delaware; Drake University; University of Houston; Kean University; University of Miami; New York University; University of North Alabama; Northeastern State University (Tahlequah); Portland State University; State University of New York - Stony Brook; and Trine University.
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These joint institutes are far from the only collaborations between U.S. universities and Chinese entities that create national security risks. In the follow-on investigation, the Committees identified more than a hundred additional academic partnerships that involve PRC entities that pose a national security risk.
More than fifty such partnerships are described below, along with the national security risk factors. These partnerships include:
— Three joint degree programs between U.S. universities and China’s Seven Sons of National Defense. The Seven Sons of National Defense are universities hand-picked by the CCP to propel China’s military and defense-research forward.
— A partnership in submarine engineering research between the University of Houston and Dalian Maritime University, which is supervised by a Chinese defense-focused government agency and partners with Chinese defense conglomerates on engineering research.
— A dual degree in aircraft power engineering between Shenyang Aerospace University, which is supervised by blacklisted Chinese military company the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (the developer of China’s 5th Generation Stealth Fighter), and Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
— A joint program in mechanical design, manufacturing, and automation between North China Institute of Aerospace Engineering—a university controlled by blacklisted Chinese military companies that produce China’s Long March Rockets and other missiles—and Saint Martin’s University in Washington state.
These partnerships must end.
The second part of the report examines changes to foreign gift disclosures since the release of CCP on the Quad. After years of inaction by the Biden-Harris administration, the current Trump Administration has taken significant steps to bolster enforcement of the foreign contract and gift requirements in current law under section 117 of the Higher Education Act (HEA). Institutions that partner with joint institutes have taken some steps toward improved disclosures, but serious gaps still remain.
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Select Committee Chairman John Moolenaar and Education and Workforce Chairman Tim Walberg therefore recommend adopting into law the Securing American Funding and Expertise from Adversarial Research Exploitation Act of 2025 (SAFE Research Act), which:
— Prohibits federal science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) research funding to researchers who collaborate with foreign adversary-controlled entities that pose a national security risk.
— Prohibits DOD funding to universities that partner with foreign adversary-controlled entities that pose a national security risk.
— Requires enhanced disclosures of foreign adversary collaborations, travel, and affiliations from foreign adversary entities.
The SAFE Research Act was introduced and adopted by the House as an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (FY26 NDAA), which passed the House on September 10, 2025. We look forward to working expeditiously to move this bill forward and enact it into law.
In addition, foreign gift disclosures remain inadequate. The lack of strong enforcement provisions in the law and shortcomings in university reporting still remain and demonstrate the continued need for legislative action such as H.R. 1048, the Defending Education Transparency and Ending Rogue Regimes Engaging in Nefarious Transactions (DETERRENT) Act. The DETERRENT Act passed the House on March 27, 2025, by a vote of 241 to 169. It is now awaiting Senate action. The Chairmen continue to urge the Senate to pass the DETERRENT Act expeditiously.
Read the report here