The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) has decided to ban collaborations between every U.S. scientist it funds and many Chinese research institutions and their employees. The new policy abandons NSF’s earlier attempt to balance the potential risks and benefits of such collaborations.
But it puts the agency in step with actions taken earlier this year by the much larger Department of Defense (DOD) and with congressional Republicans, who assert that any interactions with China threaten national security.
The new policy, posted on Wednesday and still being digested by university administrators, relies on lists of so-called restricted entities maintained by DOD and other federal agencies. The lists contain the names of hundreds of leading Chinese universities, national laboratories, and other research institutions. Any interactions with “the employees of such restricted entities” is taboo, the NSF policy notes.