Georgia Tech to End Partnerships with China Amid Concerns Over Military Ties, Reports Reuters

By Michael Martina

Georgia Tech has decided to end its research and educational partnerships in the Chinese cities of Tianjin and Shenzhen, as announced on Friday. This decision follows increased scrutiny from Congress regarding the university’s collaboration with entities that are purportedly connected to China’s military.

In May, the House of Representatives’ select committee on China reached out to Georgia Tech, seeking information about its research on advanced semiconductor technologies conducted with Tianjin University. This Chinese institution and its affiliates were placed on the U.S. Commerce Department’s export restrictions list in 2020 due to concerns related to national security, including allegations of trade secret theft and military-related research collaboration.

Abbigail Tumpey, a spokesperson for Georgia Tech, stated via email that the university has been reviewing its engagement with China since Tianjin University was added to the entity list. “Tianjin University has had ample time to correct the situation. To date, Tianjin University remains on the Entity List, making Georgia Tech’s participation with Tianjin University, and subsequently the Georgia Tech Shenzhen Institute (GTSI), no longer tenable,” Tumpey explained.

As a leading engineering school in the U.S. and a significant recipient of Defense Department funding, Georgia Tech announced that it would cease its involvement with the Shenzhen institute. However, the university assured that the approximately 300 students currently enrolled there would still have the opportunity to complete their degree requirements.

Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington, criticized the portrayal of standard academic exchanges as a national security threat, describing it as an “unwarranted smear campaign.” He stated, “We oppose the U.S. generalizing the concept of national security, politicizing and instrumentalizing educational cooperation and academic exchanges, and blocking normal scientific research exchanges and cooperation.”

Earlier this year, Georgia Tech highlighted a significant achievement by its researchers in Atlanta and at the Tianjin International Center for Nanoparticles and Nanosystems, where they claimed to have developed the world’s first functional semiconductor using the nanomaterial graphene, potentially leading to faster computing and a “paradigm shift” in electronics.

The competitive landscape between the U.S. and China remains intense, particularly in the semiconductor industry, which both nations regard as strategically important for both civilian and military applications, including quantum computing and advanced weaponry.

The select committee’s May letter pointed out that the Tianjin research center is linked to a Chinese company with subsidiaries that supply the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). A Georgia Tech scientist involved in the Tianjin project defended the collaboration, asserting that all findings were accessible to the public and that the partnership had undergone thorough legal review.

U.S. Representative Virginia Foxx, the Republican chairwoman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, expressed that it should not have taken a congressional investigation for Georgia Tech to terminate its partnership with a blacklisted Chinese entity. Nonetheless, she welcomed the university’s decision and expressed hope that other institutions would follow suit.

In recent times, U.S. agencies and Congress have intensified their scrutiny over China’s state-sponsored influence and technology transfer programs at American educational institutions, concerned about potential national security risks associated with these collaborations. The Biden administration also put an end to the China Initiative, a program initiated by the previous administration aimed at countering Chinese espionage and intellectual property theft, which critics claimed led to racial profiling and hindered scientific research.