Research with countries that are not free: experts sound the alarm

What interests are at stake in collaborative research with countries that are not free, such as China and Russia? The House of Representatives talked to three experts and two university rectors on this subject earlier this month.

Member of the House of Representatives Harm Beertema of the PVV was especially critical of collaborative research with China. Is it safe to leave the decisions to the universities themselves, he wondered. He could not help thinking about the controversial Confucius Institutes with which the universities joined forces. And not so long ago Groningen wanted to open a campus in Yantai, China.

About-turn
Tim van der Hagen, rector and president of the board of Delft University of Technology responded. He spoke of a “complete about-turn regarding China”. He asserted that until three years ago his university was “encouraged to receive as many Chinese delegations as possible and specifically to collaborate with them”. Nowadays roughly the opposite is the case, he said.

But the risk of new security checks by government bodies is that they can take months to complete. Van der Hagen warned that the most brilliant minds simply go elsewhere if approval takes too long. After all, they are welcomed everywhere.

His ultimate message was that the universities, with the help of bodies such as the intelligence services, can make their own decisions. They are careful enough. In Delft they say ‘no’ in case of doubt, Van der Hagen said. There was no mention of the collaboration between Delft and universities linked to the Chinese army.

His colleague, Utrecht University rector Henk Kummeling, conveyed the same message. Needless to say, the universities do not have a monopoly on wisdom, he acknowledged, “but if we have information, we can do a lot of sensible things”.

Kummeling pleaded for a government portal where universities can get information about potential partner institutions. The reason for that is they have sometimes come up against a brick wall at the intelligence and security services when they wanted to ask questions about the risks of collaboration, the rector added, and then it’s hard to make a well-considered decision. Additionally, the universities want to get concrete government guidelines so as to assess what type of collaboration they can and cannot take on.

US-China
In the previous hour three experts had underlined the importance of security policy. In particular, analyst Joris Teer of The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies outlined a stark view of the world. The growing tensions around Taiwan mean that a military conflict between the US and China can no longer be excluded, he said. Should it come to that, the US will have its hands full and will no longer be able to protect Europe against Russia. So it is in the best interests of Europe that China does not acquire any knowledge in the Netherlands that can be used for military purposes.

In the opinion of Ingrid d’Hooghe of the Clingendael Institute the government needs to take action. Whatever measures they are taking, universities do not, in her view, have the capacity to do everything themselves. That would lead to a “waste of manpower” and a “patchwork of opinions”.

Decision-making
Member of the House of Representatives Hatte van der Woude (VVD) wanted to find ways of keeping the door to collaboration open. Most of those present, even the experts, felt that international collaboration is in principle a good thing. How strict should you be? Van der Woude thought that nearly all countries would drop out if you put security, academic freedom and ethical use of knowledge “to an equal degree in your decision-making framework”. Her view is that the Netherlands will have to set priorities.

The issue is a complex one because so many interests are at stake. China is an important trading partner and the Chinese universities are developing prodigiously, but the country is also a superpower that wants to increase its influence.

Science exists mainly for the benefit of science, and scientists are eager to foster knowledge and understanding, Kummeling told the House of Representatives. But that isn’t the only interest, you could hear the Members thinking.

HOP, Bas Belleman

Translation: Taalcentrum-VU

Read our other stories about academic cooperation with China too:

• TU Delft Rector: ‘We do not always have an answer to what we can and cannot do with China’
• The Sons: about how TU Delft inadvertently helps the Chinese army. 
• Striking a balance: TU Delft scientists talk about their considerations in working with Chinese counterparts.
• The history: about how the view of collaboration with China has changed over the years.
• Our journalistic statement of accountability on the hows and whys of our China-investigation.