A Bloomberg report revealed that Huawei, a Chinese electronics company seen as a national security threat by the US, has been secretly funding optical research at American universities through a nonprofit called the Optica Foundation.
Huawei is the sole donor for a $10 million competition administered by Optica that offers large cash prizes but does not disclose Huawei’s involvement, according to documents.
“The existence and content of this Agreement and the relationship between the Parties shall also be considered Confidential Information,” one document stated.
While legal, experts say the lack of transparency violates policies requiring disclosure of foreign funding and could enable espionage, as some research has defense relevance.
They also note the optics are poor, as Huawei raises national security concerns.
“It’s a bad look for a prestigious research foundation to be anonymously accepting money from a Chinese company that raises so many national security concerns for the US government,” defense contractor James Mulvenon said.
Some universities said they would not have participated had they known of Huawei’s role.
The report adds to concerns about growing Chinese influence through financial contributions to American academic and research institutions.
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