November 16, 2022

"US funded military research goes to Chinese institutions"

The USA's abc4 NEWS reports November 16, 2022:

"U.S. funded military research goes to Chinese institutions"

"More than 150 Chinese-born scientists who did U.S. taxpayer-funded military research at the fabled Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico are now back home working in China, in some cases, helping develop weapons.

“Since returning to China, Los Alamos alumni have helped the [People’s Republic of China] advance key military and dual-use technologies in areas such as hypersonics, deep-earth penetrating warheads, unmanned autonomous vehicles, jet engines, and submarine noise reduction,” according to a [Strider] report titled “The Los Alamos Club” from Strider Technologies first reported [in a video] by NBC News.

One such scientist focused on in the report was Zhao Yusheng, a researcher at Los Alamos for 18 years, who collected about $20 million in taxpayer-funded research grants from the U.S. Department of Energy.

With “Q clearance,” [covering nuclear weapons and related] at Los Alamos, Zhao was allowed access to top secret restricted data and national security information and led the lab’s team researching high-pressure materials — nuclear warheads, according to the report.

After leaving Los Alamos in 2010, Zhao lead the University of Nevada, Las Vegas High-Pressure Science and Engineering Center, also with a Q Clearance, collecting another approximately $2.9 million in DOE funding for research into new battery materials, the report found.

Zhao was recruited to work for Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, China in 2016. He had been scouted by another former Los Alamos alumnus, Dr. Chen Shiyi, “a world-renowned expert in fluid dynamics and turbulence who spent the 1990s at the lab,” he Strider report said.

Chen returned to China and served as president of the [Shenzhen, China] university, recruiting scientists with links to Los Alamos, luring them back [to China] with between $155,000 and $755,000 in research subsidies and grants.

Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping and other top CCP leaders have supported China’s talent programs, the Strider report noted.

“This is the first time we have a comprehensive open-sourced reporting that identifies the people, the places, the services and the organizations in China that are benefitting from the talent who once worked here in our national labs,” Bill Evanina, former director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, told NBC News. “No one can say this is not a threat to our national security,” saying the U.S. is giving “our enemies” the ability to use weapons against us."

SEE WHOLE ABC4 NEWS ARTICLE

3 comments:

  1. Pete

    Some interesting events at the G20 summit regarding AUKUS reported here.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/nov/16/anthony-albanese-seeks-ways-to-boost-australias-defence-capability-as-g20-ends

    At this point I have no idea which way the decision will go. But I found two aspects of this approach encouraging.
    - first Albanese spoke to the leaders of USA, UK, and France all on the same day. No risking of misunderstandings or allies being upset at not being informed. An agreement supported by all four nations is far more likely to "stick" than a secret one. Also, wherever Australia builds or upgrades SSN bases, it makes good sense for them to be able to service SSNs from all four navies. That makes Australia a better ally, and is in our enlightened self interest because it encourages three other friendly navies to station their SSNs near our shores.
    - second there was specific reference to the need to do something about a "capability gap".
    "Referencing his summit season catch-ups with the two Aukus partners, the US and Britain, and with France – the key ally the former government spurned by cancelling a lucrative submarine contract with a French manufacturer to pursue the agreement to produce nuclear powered submarines – Albanese said “we did have some discussions” about the capability gap."

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  2. Thanks /Kjell

    I have little doubt of those Dutch shipyards:

    Notional A. is working with Naval Group

    B. with TKMS

    and C. with SAAB-Kockums

    Regards Pete

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  3. Thanks Anonymous @Nov 17, 2022, 9:41:00 AM

    Yes in addition to your G20 summit AUKUS reporting. I add Australia's main submarine base, HMAS Stirling/Fleet Base West has hosted:

    - UK SSNs eg. HMS Astute, October 2021 https://gentleseas.blogspot.com/2021/11/why-australia-is-not-buying-astute-ssns.html

    - many more US SSNs and SSGNs https://gentleseas.blogspot.com/2015/05/us-nuclear-subs-that-temporarily-docked.html

    and

    - the occasional French SSN eg. Rubis-class SSN Emeraude in November 2020 https://gentleseas.blogspot.com/2020/11/australia-currently-hosting-french.html

    Tackling Australia's submarine "capability gap" might have the two Aus Reviews, who are reporting in the first 3 months of 2023, talking Collins LOTE, hinting at Anduril XLUUVs, ASW aircraft, UCAVs, satellite ASW and anti-ship sensors and perhaps even hinting at seafloor sensors ("in Australia's region").

    Regards Pete

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