Top-tier academic journals such as Nature, Science, the New England Journal of Medicine, and the Lancet have published reams of research funded by the Chinese Communist Party in recent years, a Washington Examiner review found. [emphasis, links added]
This Chinese-funded research has proven useful to critics of President Donald Trump, some of whom cited it extensively in a recent, well-publicized critique of his Department of Energy.
The critique, alongside the favorable media coverage it attracted, failed to disclose its use of CCP-funded research or the fact that the Chinese government is known to fund research that aligns with its economic and security interests.
In July, the DOE released a report that concluded man-made climate change is occurring but qualified the finding by arguing that the negative effects of global warming are often overstated by the academic mainstream, and even if they weren’t, tweaks to American policy would have only a marginal influence on global temperatures.
The report sparked outrage from [some in] the scientific community.
A Washington Examiner review of the document’s references found nearly four dozen unique citations of research funded by one or more arms of the CCP.
Many papers cited in the rebuttal also listed Chinese government employees as authors. None of this was disclosed in the document itself.
Additionally, large media outlets, including the New York Times, CNN, Reuters, National Public Radio, and Time Magazine, provided the document with positive coverage without mentioning the CCP-funded research it utilized.
Among the Chinese government entities that funded research cited in the rebuttal were various arms of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the China Scholarship Council, the National Basic Research Program of China, and the National Key Research and Development Program of China.
The prevalence of Chinese-funded research in the anti-Trump climate document…serves as another example of how Western institutions allow their reputations to be used for the CCP’s benefit.
All five entities are either part of the Chinese government or directly overseen by it.
The prevalence of Chinese-funded research in the anti-Trump climate document and in broader scientific literature indicates how widespread the CCP’s influence over academia has grown and serves as another example of how Western institutions allow their reputations to be used for the CCP’s benefit.
“The New England Journal of Medicine applies the same rigorous and independent peer-review process to all submitted research, regardless of funding source or country of origin,” a spokeswoman for the publication said when reached by the Washington Examiner. “Editorial decisions are based solely on the quality and integrity of the science.”
The Chinese government runs an array of grant-making programs to fund and promote research aligned with its national interests.
One major priority of the CCP in this realm is to produce scientific papers on the dangers of climate change and the utility of alternative forms of energy.
China’s focus on global warming and green energy, many observers argue, isn’t borne out of a genuine passion for ecology.
“The ultimate power China wants is the ability to control America’s power,” Michael Lucci, CEO of the national security organization State Armor, told the Washington Examiner.
“That’s why China’s government promotes environmental extremism within the United States, so that we buy Chinese energy technologies that are laden with kill switches that allow the CCP to shut down our electric grid. They promote this scheme as ‘green technology,’ but when it comes from China, it is ‘red tech.’ China promotes this influence operation through agreements with states like California, through flooding academic journals, and through advocacy within the United States directed and funded by nonprofits like Energy Foundation China.”
Analysts, such as those at the Heritage Foundation, have argued that China’s support of green energy, both domestically and abroad, is part of a broader strategy to “transform its energy resource vulnerabilities into a net advantage.”
The Heritage Foundation analysts assert that China has “hijacked” the American environmental movement for its own benefit, as China has a significant economic interest in replacing fossil fuels with alternative forms of energy.
China is the world’s largest producer of solar panels and has a massive and growing electric vehicle (EV) industry. The wider adoption of these technologies would be a boon for the country. Unlike the U.S., China has relatively small oil and gas reserves, making it reliant on imports.
That China’s scientific grant makers operate in lockstep with Beijing is not mere speculation.
The Chinese government entities funding academic research, including the papers cited in the rebuttal to the DOE report, have been documented as working explicitly to advance the interests of the CCP.
The Chinese Academy of Sciences, responsible for funding eight of the studies in the rebuttal document, for instance, operates under the State Council, the “executive body of the supreme organ of state power” in China, led by CCP member Hou Jianguo.
Jianguo wrote in 2020, shortly after being selected as the organization’s president, that it “will be guided by [Chinese President] Xi Jinping’s thoughts on socialism with Chinese characteristics for [a] new era.”
Read rest at Washington Examiner
Unfortunately para 5 – “A Washington Examiner review of the document’s references found nearly four dozen unique citations of research funded by one or more arms of the CCP” – is phrased in a manner which makes it appear that it was the DOE report, rather than its rebuttal, which uses citations from CCP-funded research. Maybe you should clarify this?
No surprise there, it has been pretty obvious that Climate Change is being used to attack the west to the advantage of China!