Belgian scientists are increasingly helping the Chinese army

Last year, collaborations between scientists from Belgian universities with colleagues from Chinese institutions that pose a ‘high’ or ‘very high’ risk resulted in 1,664 joint publications. That was only half in 2016 (812) and in 2001 even barely 30.

The investigations are not always innocent: 373 of the Belgian-Chinese publications last year related to technology that is labeled as ‘critical’ according to the standards of the European Commission. This is also happening more and more often. In 2016 there were only 145 studies, in 2001 it was 4.

Energy, semiconductors, AI

“Belgian scientists have collaborated on very sensitive topics with Chinese scientists linked to the military,” say researchers Nick Houttekier and Sara Van Hoeymissen, and professor Cind Du Bois of the KMS. For example, last year a joint study was published on ways to make turbines more robust. However, that kind of knowledge can also serve to make more efficient jet engines for fighter planes, the researchers warn.

The vast majority of collaborations concern energy technology, in addition to semiconductors and artificial intelligence.