The White House’s top science adviser on Wednesday said that the Biden administration’s decision to get rid of the Justice Department’s China Initiative was “damaging”, though stopped short of recommending that it should be fully brought back.
Asked by Florida Republican Daniel Webster whether the termination of the programme aimed at combating alleged economic espionage from Beijing was detrimental, Michael Kratsios, the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, said: “It certainly was damaging.”
“We have recognised, and the China Select Committee has also brought to light, a lot of attempted infiltration by nefarious actors of our research enterprise across the Department of War, Department of Energy and many of our other research agencies,” Kratsios said.
He added that it was “important that we remain vigilant in monitoring, tracking and setting up the right safeguards to protect our research ecosystem”, pointing to a Pentagon memorandum from last week that strengthens research security measures against Chinese entities.
08:30
Why are more Chinese scientists leaving the US to return to China?
Why are more Chinese scientists leaving the US to return to China?
The comments were made at a hearing hosted by the House Science Committee, and came just days after House lawmakers stripped language attached to a commerce, justice and science appropriations bill that would have effectively reinstated the initiative.
The Justice Department initiative, launched in 2018 under Donald Trump’s first term, was widely criticised for leading to misguided, racially motivated and excessive prosecutions, and contributing to an exodus of top scientific talent from the US to China.
Visited 1 times, 1 visit(s) today
