Top US government audit agency urged to ensure China influence probes are kept ‘free from bias’
- Call is latest development as Washington seeks to strike balance between protecting American national security and preserving culture of open research
- Letter from Judy Chu, chair of Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, also signed by top Democrats on oversight and science committees
The call is the latest development affecting the delicate balance the US government seeks to strike between protecting national security and preserving a culture of open research collaboration.
Chu’s letter, also signed by the top Democrats on the House oversight and science committees, asserted that US government responses to concerns about influence attempts by foreign entities, particularly those in China, had led to disproportionately high numbers of ethnically Asian researchers being targeted and losing their jobs.
In 2018, the National Institutes of Health – an American government agency responsible for biomedical and public health research – began investigating 246 US-based scientists who allegedly failed to disclose research conducted in another country or affiliations with foreign institutions.
