The Sunday Times: “The report by Strider Technologies…found 8,000 scientific papers that have been published in collaboration with PLA-linked institutes.”

Strider’s report—From Innovation to Weaponisation: How China Exploits the UK Open Scientific System—detailing the scope and scale of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) technology collaboration between leading UK research organizations and entities operated by or affiliated with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) was featured in The Sunday Times:

The Sunday Times’ coverage examines findings from Strider’s From Innovation to Weaponisation: How China Exploits the UK Open Scientific System report, which revealed more than 8,000 scientific papers produced since 2020 through collaborations between UK researchers and institutions linked to the People’s Liberation Army. The research involved more than 5,000 UK-based academics across more than 100 organisations and covered technologies including artificial intelligence, quantum computing, aerospace, hypersonics and anti-jamming communications.  

The article explains how Strider conducted the research by examining academic publications and mapping the relationships between UK researchers and Chinese institutions, identifying links to organisations associated with China’s military and defence research system.

The Sunday Times reports that Strider shared its findings with the Ministry of Defence and uses the research to raise broader questions about how openly available UK scientific research and international academic collaboration can contribute to China’s military capabilities. The article highlights Strider’s assessment that the issue extends beyond individual research papers, with relationships built through academic collaboration potentially giving Chinese institutions access to specialist expertise, technical knowledge and opportunities to recruit UK researchers.

The article places Strider’s findings within the wider conversation about research security and China’s efforts to bolster its military capabilities. It references previous warnings from MI5 Director-General Ken McCallum about hostile states targeting sensitive British research, as well as comments from former security Tom Tugendhat and the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China. Eric Levesque, Strider’s President and Co-Founder, is quoted discussing the scale of the challenge and arguing that the findings demonstrate the need to consider the security implications of international partnerships at a systemic level.  

Read the full article here.