The US Department of Education on Tuesday said it opened a foreign funding investigation into the University of Michigan (UM) while alleging it found “inaccurate and incomplete disclosures” in a review of the university’s foreign reports, after two Chinese scientists linked to the school were separately charged with smuggling biological materials into the US.
As part of the investigation, the department asked the university to share, within 30 days, tax records related to foreign funding, a list of foreign gifts, grants and contracts with any foreign source, and other documents, the department said in a statement and in a letter to the university.
It said the pair of “highly disturbing criminal charges” announced last month raised concerns about Michigan’s vulnerability to national security threats from China.
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“Despite the University of Michigan’s history of downplaying its vulnerabilities to malign foreign influence, recent reports reveal that UM’s research laboratories remain vulnerable to sabotage,” US Department of Education Chief Investigative Counsel Paul Moore said.
The University of Michigan said it would cooperate fully with federal investigators and it takes its responsibility to comply with the law seriously, it said in a statement.
US federal prosecutors last month accused two Chinese nationals of smuggling into the US a dangerous biological pathogen that they said had the potential to be used as an agricultural “terrorism weapon.”
Liu Zunyong, 34, a Chinese researcher, is alleged to have brought the pathogen into the US while visiting his girlfriend, Jian Yunqing, 33, in July last year, an FBI complaint said.
The complaint said Liu admitted to smuggling in a fungus so he could conduct research on it at a University of Michigan laboratory where his girlfriend worked. However, experts have raised doubt about the FBI’s claim that the crop fungus smuggled was a threat.
In its statement, the education department said the university had received US$375 million in foreign funding since 2020 and was late in reporting US$86 million of that amount. US law requires universities to report donations from foreign sources exceeding US$250,000 in a year.
US President Donald Trump’s administration has made it a priority to increase transparency around foreign gifts and contracts to US universities, especially those tied to China. It joins efforts from Republicans in the US Congress who have urged universities to cut research ties with China, saying Beijing exploits the relationships to steal technology.
Michigan ended a partnership with a university in Shanghai in January amid pressure from House Republicans who called it a security risk.
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