Taiwan has sanctioned seven universities that are part of the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology as posing a national security risk, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said yesterday.
Taiwanese universities and research institutions are forbidden from engaging in any academic activities or exchanges with seven Chinese universities to protect technology critical to national security interests, he said.
Students and researchers from the US have been banned from studying or working at the universities since 2020.
Photo: Rachel Lin, Taipei Times
Dubbed the “seven sons of [China’s] national defense,” the universities were founded by the Chinese Ministry of National Defense before they were transferred to the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Cheng said.
The “seven sons” are Beihang University, Beijing Institute of Technology, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, and Harbin Engineering University.
The listed universities are heavily involved in developing Chinese arms, equipment, aviation, telecommunications, chemicals and material sciences, Cheng said, adding that they serve the aims of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and “united front” work.
The universities are technically excellent and remain certified as educational institutions, but continued cooperation with these schools poses too much of a risk to Taiwan’s national secrets and key technologies, Cheng said.
Taiwan does not recognize academic credentials issued by the PLA-run National University of Defense Technology, Naval Medical University and Air Force University, despite them being part of Project 985 and Project 211, Beijing’s programs to promote academic excellence.
“People sometimes make mistakes out of a scarcity of information — the Ministry of Education fights that by disclosing information via the Internet and career counseling in high schools,” Cheng said.
The ministry would take all appropriate measures to ensure that students and parents are fully informed before making a decision about their educational future, he added.
The US Department of Justice and US Department of Commerce sanctioned 18 universities including the “seven sons” in 2018 and 2020 to prevent technology theft.
The FBI has long asserted that Beijing directs academics and scientists to study and teach in the US to acquire sensitive technologies or information.
Japanese universities have also changed their protocols for exchanges and collaborations with China following reports that 45 Japanese institutions of higher learning risked the loss of key technologies by cooperating with the seven.
A Taiwanese researcher on condition of anonymity yesterday said that he had met many faculty members from the “seven sons” and had been approached by a Beijing Institute of Technology professor who hinted at illicit work.
Taiwanese researchers often worry about attending academic conferences with their Chinese counterparts out of fears that the latter could steal their research, he said.
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