the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party has requested extensive information about the Tsinghua–Berkeley Shenzhen Institute, which was set up by the University of California, Berkeley, in 2014 with Tsinghua University and the Chinese city of Shenzhen, The New York Times reported.
A letter requesting the information pointed to the institute’s research into certain “dual-use technologies” that are employed by both civilian and military institutions. The committee also questioned whether Berkeley had properly disclosed Chinese funding for the institute and cited its collaborations with Chinese universities and companies that have been the subjects of sanctions by the United States in recent years.
The letter said that Berkeley faculty members serving at the institute had received funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and other U.S. funding for the development of military applications, raising questions about Chinese access to those experts.
In a statement to the Times, Berkeley said it takes concerns about national security “very seriously” and is committed to compliance with laws governing international academic engagement. “The campus is reviewing past agreements and actions involving or connected to Tsinghua–Berkeley Shenzhen Institute” and will “fully and transparently cooperate with any federal inquiries,” it said.
