A recently published study has revealed that defense research facilities controlled by the Chinese government have received access to approximately $1 billion worth of American federally-funded research initiatives, creating what experts describe as serious national security vulnerabilities for the United States.
The Center for Research Security and Integrity released findings on February 19 documenting close to 1,800 scholarly publications from January 2019 through July 2025 that featured cooperative work between American entities and Chinese military-affiliated laboratories. Roughly one-third of these publications explicitly acknowledged financial support from the U.S. federal government.
Research areas covered by these collaborative projects included advanced technologies such as directed energy systems, energetic materials, radar technology, sensing equipment, artificial
intelligence applications, flexible electronics, and high-performance computational physics. According to the study’s authors, these represent crucial technological domains with the potential to fundamentally transform military capabilities and modern warfare.
The study calculated the aggregate value of these research initiatives at approximately $943.5 million, though analysts cautioned that the actual figure could be substantially higher due to unclear reporting in certain grant awards and facility agreements.
Jeffrey Stoff, who established the Virginia-based Center for Research Security and Integrity and served as a co-author of the research, expressed concern that American government agencies and academic institutions demonstrate insufficient commitment, resources, or prioritization when it comes to protecting research and innovation. He attributed this vulnerability to minimal regulatory restrictions on such international partnerships, noting that research organizations, including those operated by the government, appear unconcerned with safeguarding national interests despite receiving taxpayer funding.
The analysis followed numerous congressional inquiries into research projects where Pentagon or Department of Energy-funded scientists collaborated with Chinese organizations that support China’s military objectives. Stoff, formerly a China adviser for the federal
government, emphasized that the study deliberately focused on partnerships with Chinese entities that unmistakably present critical national security threats, specifically official Chinese defense research facilities.
The research identified 45 Chinese laboratories that Beijing itself recognizes as essential state-level defense research centers, all of which have engaged in collaborative work with American institutions. The report noted that nearly all these laboratories have eliminated terms such as “defense” or “national defense” from their
English-language names, potentially hindering American institutions’ ability to conduct proper risk evaluations.
The State Key Laboratory of Powder Metallurgy at Central South University in Changsha emerged as one of the most active Chinese collaborators with American researchers. Over the past five years, laboratory personnel co-authored 285 papers with American colleagues from public universities, private institutions, and federal
laboratories, with 80 of these publications acknowledging U.S. government financing.
Despite omitting “defense” from its Chinese name, the metallurgy laboratory’s primary objective is supporting Chinese military forces, particularly in defense aerospace applications. Founded in 1989 by Huang Peiyuan, a significant contributor to China’s initial atomic weapons and missile programs, the facility is currently directed by Zhou Kechao, who has undertaken projects funded by the People’s Liberation Army’s Equipment Development Department.
Approximately 70 American institutions have published collaborative research with the Chinese metallurgy laboratory since 2019, with the University of Tennessee leading in frequency of partnerships.
The National Science Foundation emerged as the predominant sponsor of American institutions partnering with these Chinese facilities, representing over 71 percent of identified federal funding. Additional federal sponsors included the Pentagon and Department of Energy. The study documented that 10 federally-funded research centers associated with the Department of Energy employed researchers who collaborated with identified Chinese defense laboratories.
The report proposed several policy recommendations, including establishing a government-operated research center to manage all research security and due diligence responsibilities for federal agencies distributing fundamental research funding. Emil Michael, under secretary of war for research and engineering, responded that the Pentagon is intensifying efforts to protect taxpayer-funded research and maintain the integrity of America’s scientific community.