An update on espionage in the university

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
So the Swiss now are also protecting themselves against espionage
and the university systems. They've been screening out applications from
countries such as Russia, China, Iran, and Afghanistan for a
year now, and eighty applications have been rejected. They assess
for criteria such as origin, previous education, and source of funding.
They intended degree that they're getting universities of long service,

(00:25):
global hubs of open research, collaboration and innovation. However, their
attractive targets beforeign espionage. The most common vectors include visiting scholars,
joint research programs, and grad students affiliated with foreign military
or intelligence institutions. China's Thousand Talents programs and similar initiatives
have been repeatedly cited by the FBI as recruitment pipelines

(00:48):
that incentivize participants to transfer proper proprietary research without disclosure.
In eighteen. Between twenty eighteen and twenty four, the DOJ
prosecuted multiple cases of involving professors and researchers who conceal
ties to Chinese entities while working on US government projects
such as hypersonic semiconductors and biotech. These non state actors

(01:13):
complicate the landscape, as the universities frequently partner with private
firms and commercially valuable research, making them targets for industrial theft.
Open campuses and minimal security protocols for many labs, and
reliance on international funding exacerbate the vulnerabilities. Some of the
countermeasures that they're doing now is VISA screening, mandatory disclosure

(01:37):
of foreign affiliations, restricted access to certain sensitive projects, and
FBI academic research projects. So again, big problem, and it's
not a relic of an old the Coal War. It's
still evolving and we're going to see what what has
Rubio done about it right now, because he's done some

(01:59):
stuff here to change. So he was putting some kind
of moratorium, I believe on Chinese students. What he did
was a he had he created the foreign well. He
introduced a Foreign Influenced Transparracy Act, legislation that mandates entities
like the CCP China register on the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

(02:24):
It also amends the Higher Education Act to require universities
to disclose foreign donations and contracts or in kind gifts
succeeding fifty thousand dollars a year in twenty twenty five,
Rubio announced an aggressive politic city to revoke visas for
students for Chinese students affiliated with the CCP or studying

(02:44):
in sensitive areas like AI and robotics. The initiative enhances
sers scrutiny of all future applicants from China and Hong Kong,
aiming to curb electoral intellectual property