After US university cuts China ties, experts worry over ‘continued downturn’ in exchanges

As Georgia Tech ends its association with Tianjin University, observers warn the ‘decoupling’ trend could ultimately impede US development

Reading Time:4 minutes

Georgia Tech is cutting ties with Tianjin University over national security concerns. Photo: Dreamstime/TNS

Published: 8:00pm, 10 Sep 2024

The end of a decade-long partnership between a leading public research university in the United States and China’s Tianjin University was a “direct consequence” of a US strategy to decouple from China in hi-tech fields, and a worrying sign of dwindling academic exchanges between the two countries, analyst have warned.

The Georgia Institute of Technology announced last week that it would sever its relationship with the Georgia Tech Shenzhen Institute (GTSI) – a joint venture with Tianjin University – and shut down its degree programmes in China’s technology hub.

The announcement by one of the country’s leading technological universities followed accusations from US lawmakers that the school’s partnership with blacklisted Tianjin University might have compromised US national security.

In May, the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party opened an investigation into its collaborations with Tianjin University and asked Georgia Tech’s leaders to clarify details of their research collaboration on semiconductor technologies.

The committee said China’s military-civil fusion strategy, which is aimed at integrating civilian resources as part of the country’s military build-up, leverages civilian companies, universities and technologies for military ends, and that Tianjin University was “deeply embedded” in the system.

The lawmakers said the relationship was problematic since Georgia Tech was home to the Georgia Tech Research Institute, which collaborates with the US Department of Defense on national security issues.