China will stop at nothing to steal American innovation and claim it for themselves. As a counterintelligence officer who operated against China, I’ve seen it firsthand.
The Thousand Talents Program is one of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) premier espionage initiatives. Launched in 2008, the program recruits CCP spies to receive an education at a U.S. university and take the knowledge (and trade secrets) they learned back with them to China.
The CCP designed the Thousand Talents Program to recruit 2,000 highly qualified individuals from around the world in five years. Since its inception, the program has reportedly recruited more than 15,000 people that we know of.
There are massive incentives for these individuals to steal U.S. intellectual property. In exchange for the information gathered in the U.S., these scholars receive large salaries, research funding, lab space, and other lucrative rewards after their return to China.
Earlier today, I offered an amendment on the House Floor to prevent any taxpayer funding from supporting any university with a contract or affiliation to the Thousand Talents Program. Not only does my amendment protect tax dollars, but it also protects our economy, intellectual property, and national security.
Bottom Line: If the U.S. is to remain the global leader in innovative sectors, we must ensure that American research and solutions stay out of the hands of our enemies.