Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Johns Hopkins University are among 30 American institutions ordered to audit their foreign research relationships, according to US officials, as higher education representatives accused the Pentagon of implying wrongdoing without publicly presenting evidence.
An American official, speaking anonymously to the Associated Press, confirmed that Harvard, MIT and Johns Hopkins had received notifications.
Fox News, citing a US official, subsequently published what it described as the complete list of institutions. It included several of the country’s most prominent research universities, including Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, New York University, and the University of California campuses in Berkeley, Los Angeles, and San Diego.
The Pentagon had not responded to repeated email and telephone requests from the South China Morning Post seeking the names of the universities, the collaborations that prompted the audits and evidence of any unauthorised technology transfer or misconduct.
The universities have until August 31 to conduct comprehensive reviews of their academic, financial and research relationships with foreign “entities of concern”, assess whether sensitive or export-controlled research was exposed, and adopt mitigation measures that could include terminating partnerships.