From Innovation to Weaponisation: How China Exploits the Australian and New Zealand Open Scientific Systems

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is executing a state-driven strategy to achieve global leadership in science and technology (S&T). Government plans set out tactics for achieving that goal, including leveraging international collaborations and recruiting foreign talent. While many PRC organisations are tasked with implementing those tactics, research institutes affiliated with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) pose the most significant risks to Australian and New Zealand national security and to the countries’ S&T ecosystem.

A new report from Strider details how the PRC is leveraging unsuspecting Australian and New Zealand institutions to execute a coordinated strategy to dominate the global science and technology race. From Innovation to Weaponisation finds that since 2020, researchers from more than 80 Australian organizations have co-authored over 6,000 scientific papers with People’s Liberation Army-affiliated research organisations (PLA-RI). The report also identifies more than 10 New Zealand organisations that have collaborated with PLA-RI on more than 500 STEM publications in that same time.

Key findings:

• There have been more than 6,000 joint publications and collaborations between researchers affiliated with Australian organizations and researchers affiliated with People’s Liberation Army-linked research institutes (PLA-RI) on STEM topics since 2020.
• There have been more than 150 joint publications and collaborations between researchers affiliated with New Zealand organizations and researchers affiliated with People’s Liberation Army-linked research institutes (PLA-RI) on STEM topics since 2020.
• These partnerships look at strategic dual-use technologies such as artificial intelligence and aerospace systems, as well as technology with a high likelihood of military applications such as communication jamming, target tracking, and swarm-enabled precision striking capabilities.
• More than 300 papers were co-authored with a Seven Sons university sanctioned by the U.S. for attempting to acquire U.S.-origin items in support of programs for the People’s Liberation Army.

Read the full report here.