Republicans Launch Research Security Probe into Former UCLA Scientist
A building on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles.
(Beyond My Ken / Wikimedia Commons)
Republican leaders of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party and the House Energy and Commerce Committee have launched an inquiry into why the federal government awarded millions of dollars in research grants to projects led by Song-Chun Zhu, an artificial intelligence scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles who joined a Chinese talent recruitment program in 2010 and moved to China in 2020.
Citing a 2023 article by Newsweek, the lawmakers state that Zhu’s projects received more than $30 million in federal grant funding during his career, of which $1.2 million was awarded by the Department of Defense after he moved to China. In letters to UCLA, DOD, and the National Science Foundation, the lawmakers asked for extensive information regarding Zhu’s research and grant awards, organizational conflict of interest and oversight policies, and details on any researchers affiliated with UCLA or in receipt of NSF or DOD funding who currently reside in China or have ties with the CCP.
In statements to Newsweek, NSF indicated it became aware of risks associated with Zhu’s foreign affiliations “near the end range” of his funding. DOD noted that the grants in question involved many researchers and pointed to the benefits of international collaboration in research.
Congressional concerns surrounding participation in Chinese talent recruitment programs began to build in 2019, and last year’s CHIPS and Science Act will bar agencies from awarding funding to participants in “malign” recruitment programs starting in August this year.
