From Innovation to Weaponization: How China Exploits the U.S. Open Scientific System

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is executing a state-driven strategy to achieve global leadership in science and technology (S&T). Government plans lay out tactics for achieving that goal, including leveraging international collaborations and recruiting foreign talent. While many PRC organizations are tasked with implementing those tactics, research institutes affiliated with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) pose the most significant risks to U.S. national security, and to the U.S. S&T ecosystem.

A new report from Strider details how the PRC is leveraging unsuspecting U.S. institutions to execute a coordinated strategy to dominate the global science and technology race. From Innovation to Weaponization uncovers more than 100,000 instances of collaboration between U.S. organizations and over 50 PLA-affiliated research institutes—spanning PRC military branches, PLA research bodies, state-owned defense conglomerates, and “Seven Sons of National Defense” universities.

Key findings:

There have been more than 100,000 instances of collaboration between researchers affiliated with U.S. organizations and researchers affiliated with People's Liberation Army-linked research institutes (PLA-RI) on STEM topics since 2017.
Topics of collaboration include strategic dual-use technologies like AI, quantum computing, and aerospace, as well as technology with a high likelihood of military applications such as anti-jamming communications, hypersonic vehicles, and directed energy.
More than 500 U.S. institutions, including top universities and federal labs, have co-authored papers with PLA-affiliated researchers.
U.S. and PLA-RI collaboration has modestly declined since 2019 but remains high, even years after U.S. policy actions like NSPM-33. This collaboration facilitates PRC recruitment of top research talent and the transfer of critical expertise to the PRC military—with similar patterns observed globally.

Read the full report here.