Harvard, MIT among 30 US universities ordered to audit China research ties

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Aug 18, 2026 #American Council on Education, #Associated Press, #China Scholarship Council, #Chinese Communist Party, #Confucius Institutes, #Department of Defence, #Harvard University, #House Education and Workforce Committee, #House Select Committee on China, #John Moolenaar, #Johns Hopkins University, #Massachusetts Institute of Technology, #National Defence Authorisation Act, #pentagon, #Sarah Spreitzer, #South China Morning Post (SCMP)

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Harvard, MIT among 30 US universities ordered to audit China research ties

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Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is among 30 US universities ordered to audit their foreign research relationships. Photo: AP

Teresa Elena Frontadoin WashingtonPublished: 5:14am, 19 Aug 2026Updated: 5:47am, 19 Aug 2026Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Johns Hopkins University are among 30 American institutions ordered to audit their foreign research relationships, according to US officials, as higher education representatives accused the Pentagon of implying wrongdoing without publicly presenting evidence.The identities emerged after the Department of Defence announced the audits on Monday but declined to name the universities or disclose the foreign partnerships under scrutiny.

An American official, speaking anonymously to the Associated Press, confirmed that Harvard, MIT and Johns Hopkins had received notifications.

Fox News, citing a US official, subsequently published what it described as the complete list of institutions.

It included several of the country’s most prominent research universities, including Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, New York University, and the University of California campuses in Berkeley, Los Angeles, and San Diego.

The Pentagon had not responded to repeated email and telephone requests from the South China Morning Post seeking the names of the universities, the collaborations that prompted the audits and evidence of any unauthorised technology transfer or misconduct.

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