British university took £374,000 from sanctioned Chinese firms
A British university received £374,000 from two Chinese companies that have been sanctioned in America for their links to China’s military, freedom of information disclosures reveal.
University of Lincoln has received funding from the two firms, Huawei and CRRC, for research on self-driving vehicles since 2018. Academics at the university have also repeatedly co- authored papers on “dual-use” technology with “high-risk” Chinese universities with military ties. These ostensibly civilian technologies may have military applications, which China explicitly seeks to harness under its policy of civil-military fusion.
The government is seeking to reshape its relationship with China. Universities had been encouraged during a “golden era” of UK-China relations under David Cameron to build links with the authoritarian state. Now there are concerns that such partnerships mean
