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Jack Lau

China has hit out at Canada’s plan to stop funding sensitive research linked to certain Chinese, Russian and Iranian military and security institutions, saying it politicises and weaponises technological cooperation.
“The relevant policy from Canada is short-sighted, unwise and harms another without benefiting itself,” Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters in Beijing on Wednesday.
Ties between Canada and China have been strained in recent years, even after the saga ended over the arrest in Vancouver of a Huawei Technologies executive on fraud charges and the detention of two Canadians in China for suspected espionage. All three were released in 2021.
Ottawa in May expelled a Chinese diplomat accused of trying to intimidate a member of parliament, resulting in a tit-for-tat move from Beijing. Canada also opened an investigation in September into alleged election interference by China and Russia. Beijing denied the claim.


Ottawa announced on Tuesday that from spring, no government funding would go to sensitive technological research if any researcher involved was affiliated with, funded by or supported in kind by an institution linked to a military, national defence or state security entity deemed to pose national security risks to Canada.
A list of 103 such institutions were identified, 85 of which are Chinese. Most are academies and universities run by the Chinese military, paramilitary, coastguard, police and the state security ministry, which oversees intelligence. Others include aerospace research and engineering institutions.
Several comprehensive universities – Hunan, Sichuan and Tianjin – also made the list. The three universities did not answer phone calls seeking comment on Wednesday.
Canada also released a list of research areas considered to be sensitive. They include advanced energy technology, nanotechnology, gene therapy, quantum computing, machine learning and natural language processing. But it excludes the use of any technology that may already be ubiquitous.
The lists “provide clear, defined and transparent guidance so that researchers can quickly and efficiently determine if these new requirements apply to the scope of their research and to their grant application”, the Canadian ministers of innovation, health and public safety said in a statement.
“Although the policy will come into effect in spring 2024, the government of Canada may immediately take research affiliations into account as part of research funding decision-making processes, should risks be identified.”
Publishing the lists was part of a policy announced in February that aimed to protect Canadian state security and intellectual property.

Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail has reported that academics at 10 leading Canadian universities published 244 papers from 2017 to 2022 with scientists at the National University of Defence Technology, which is run by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
In a phone call with Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly on Thursday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi blamed poor bilateral relations on “Canada’s seriously distorted perception of China”.
David Vigneault, director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, said in October that the agency had been warning Canadian universities about engagement with PLA-linked institutions, as well as Beijing’s military-civil fusion policy.
The policy enlists the private sector to help modernise defence and develop cutting-edge technologies.
“So that means everything that they’re doing in our universities and in new technology, it’s going back into a system – very organised – to create dual-use applications for the military,” he said.


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China takes aim at Canada’s move to block Chinese, Russian, Iranian research links

The move puts further strain on relations between China and Canada. Photo: Reuters

Sichuan University in Chengdu is among the Chinese institutions identified on the list. Photo: Shutterstock

Canada clamps down on researchers with ties to China, Russia and Iran

The universities affected by the move, aimed at stopping researchers from working on subjects deemed sensitive or critical to Canadian national security, are mostly based in China. Photo illustration: Reuters

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Top diplomat Wang Yi said China and Canada did not have any “real conflicts of interest”. Photo: Reuters

Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said Canada was willing to bring relations back on the right track. Photo: Bloomberg

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The Globe and Mail newspaper is reporting that Canada is willing to compensate Michael Spavor (left) and Michael Kovrig for being imprisoned in China. Photos: Wang Zhao and Julie David de Lossy/AFP

News

China

Diplomacy

Chinese foreign ministry says policy is short-sighted and unwise, and that it politicises and weaponises technological cooperation
Ottawa will not fund tech research with ties to institutions linked to military, defence or security entities deemed to pose national security risks


Chinese foreign ministry says policy is short-sighted and unwise, and that it politicises and weaponises technological cooperation.


China’s military

China-Iran relations