The Pentagon ordered 30 U.S. academic institutions to audit their research and financial ties to certain foreign entities or risk losing eligibility for future federal research funding, it announced Monday.
The institutions must review partnerships with international entities identified under federal law, as well as organizations associated with rebranded Confucius Institutes, and evaluate whether they may have revealed sensitive or export-controlled information.
Institutions have until Aug. 31 to report their conclusions and any mitigation efforts, including discontinuing collaborations deemed troublesome, to the Defense Department.
The department did not name the 30 institutions publicly.
“The Department of War has zero tolerance for academic partnerships that compromise our national security,” said Emil Michael, the Pentagon’s top research and engineering chief, in a release. “Institutions that receive funding from American taxpayers must uphold the highest standards of research security, and these mandated audits will ensure accountability across the board.”
The audits target ties to foreign entities identified under Section 1286 of the fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, which established a Pentagon standard for identifying international organizations that pose national security issues.
The fiscal 2025 list of institutions the Defense Department deems problematic includes 130 organizations from China, Russia and Iran, ranging from electronic measurement laboratories to scientific research centers.
Starting in fiscal 2026, the Pentagon cannot fund “fundamental research” involving a partnership with any organization on the list, including collaborative research or equipment use. The ban also extends to employees of a listed entity.
Though the Trump administration in the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act downgraded China to the U.S.’s second-ranking threat, the crackdown comes as the Pentagon increasingly scrutinizes how American research and technology can be used to better China’s military capabilities.
Reuters in June published a review of how Chinese military researchers used outputs from U.S. artificial intelligence models to train their domestic systems.
In 2004, China established Confucius Institutes around the world as nonprofit groups dedicated to sharing Mandarin language and other cultural touchpoints, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. Linked to the country’s education ministry, these organizations numbered in the hundreds in 2018 and often partnered with universities, typically providing at least $100,000 in programming support.
A 2023 government watchdog report found that almost all institutes had closed after Congress restricted federal funding to associated U.S. schools. Many replaced the institutes with education from academic departments, U.S. government-sponsored language programs or programs affiliated with Taiwan, but some schools continued to receive support from Chinese partner organizations associated with the former institute.
Eve Sampson is a reporter and former Army officer. She has covered conflict across the world, writing for The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Associated Press.
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