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.
Photo: AFP
“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.
FAKE NEWS? ‘When the government demands the press become a state mouthpiece under the threat of punishment, something has gone very wrong,’ a civic group said The top US broadcast regulator on Saturday threatened media outlets over negative coverage of the Middle East war, after US President Donald Trump slammed critical headlines from the “Fake News Media.” The US president since his first term has derided mainstream media as “fake news” and has sued major outlets over what he sees as unfair coverage. Brendan Carr, head of the US Federal Communications Commission — which oversees the nation’s radio, television and Internet media — said broadcasters risked losing their licenses over news coverage. “The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will
INFLUTENTIAL THEORIST: Habermas was particularly critical of the ‘limited interest’ shown by German politicians in ‘shaping a politically effective Europe Jurgen Habermas, whose work on communication, rationality and sociology made him one of the world’s most influential philosophers and a key intellectual figure in his native Germany, has died. He was 96. Habermas’ publisher, Suhrkamp, said he died on Saturday in Starnberg, near Munich. Habermas frequently weighed in on political matters over several decades. His extensive writing crossed the boundaries of academic and philosophical disciplines, providing a vision of modern society and social interaction. His best-known works included the two-volume Theory of Communicative Action. Habermas, who was 15 at the time of Nazi Germany’s defeat, later recalled the dawn of
The Chinese public maintains relatively warm sentiments toward Taiwan and strongly prefers non-military paths to improving cross-strait relations, a recent survey conducted by the Atlanta, Georgia-based Carter Center and Emory University showed. The “China Pulse” research project, which polled 2,506 adults between Oct. 27 last year and Jan. 1 this year, found that 86 percent of respondents support strengthening cultural ties, while 81 percent favor deepening economic interaction. The report, co-authored by political scientists at Emory University and advisors at the Carter Center, indicates that the Chinese public views Taiwan’s importance through a lens of shared history and culture rather than geopolitical
Cannabis-based medicines have shown little evidence of effectiveness for treating most mental health and substance-use disorders, according to a large review of past studies published in a major medical journal on Monday. Medical use of cannabinoids has been expanding, including in the US, Canada and Australia, where many patients report using cannabis products to manage conditions such as anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and sleep problems. Researchers reviewed data from 54 randomized clinical trials conducted between 1980 and May last year involving 2,477 participants for their analysis published in The Lancet. The studies assessed cannabinoids as a primary treatment for mental disorders or substance-use
RSS