The Chinese government is secretly enrolling the country’s prize military scientists in Western universities to gain expertise in such areas as “hypersonic missiles and navigation technology,” according to a new report.
The report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, which has links to the Australian defense ministry, claimed that People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has paid for “more than 2,500 military scientists and engineers to study abroad,” with many of them concealing their official ties to China’s defense community.
A key target of Beijing’s program, the institute suggests, are universities located in the so-called “Five Eyes countries” — the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand — that have established a close intelligence-sharing network.
