House Committee Reports Harvard’s Extensive Research Ties to Chinese Military Universities

A House Select Committee investigation has uncovered significant research partnerships between Harvard University and Chinese institutions affiliated with Beijing’s military and defense operations, raising concerns about potential threats to U.S. national security. According to the committee’s report, Harvard researchers collaborated on more than 140 publications with scholars from Chinese universities, many of which are part of the “Seven Sons of National Defense” — a Pentagon-identified network central to China’s military modernization efforts.

Harvard has also received more than $600 million in gifts from China under federal disclosure requirements, exceeding donations received by any other American university, the Education Department data cited in the report shows. The House committee contends that these dual relationships — substantial financial support combined with extensive research collaborations — demand rigorous oversight to prevent advancement of Chinese military capabilities in technology, surveillance and other strategic areas.

The committee specifically flagged a 2023 soft robotics paper authored by a Harvard researcher and a Beihang University scientist, an institution on the Commerce Department’s Entity List since 2001. The research, focused on deep-sea exploration, carries potential military applications including underwater detection, yet Harvard’s compliance office classified it as nonmilitary work, highlighting a critical disconnect in institutional oversight.

Harvard researchers also co-authored magnetic materials research with a scientist from China’s National University of Defense Technology, a restricted entity, with partial support from the U.S. Army Research Office. Engineering represented the largest share of Harvard-affiliated research involving the Seven Sons institutions, the committee found.

The investigation revealed that Harvard’s executive education program with China’s National Healthcare Security Administration included officials affiliated with the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, an entity sanctioned by the Treasury Department in 2020 for human-rights abuses. Harvard professor Winnie Yip told committee investigators she was unaware of the XPCC sanctions status and had not received sanctions-compliance training.

House Committee Chairman Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., stated that Harvard must implement “significant reforms that end CCP influence on campus and prioritize secure American research,” criticizing the university’s approach to research security as insufficiently protective of national interests. The committee’s report recommends Harvard prohibit collaborations with entities on U.S. government restricted lists and strengthen centralized oversight of research partnerships.

Harvard declined to comment on the committee’s findings. The report also raises concerns about Harvard Global Research and Support Services, a nonprofit affiliate potentially capable of circumventing federal foreign-gift reporting requirements, and urges Congress to strengthen disclosure standards for universities accepting international funding.