U. Michigan Cuts Link with Chinese

University of Michigan has announced it is ending its joint institute with Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU).  

In a letter, Santa Ono, president of the University of Michigan, said following a thorough review the university has initiated the six-month process to “officially end the partnership” with Shanghai Jiao Tong University in the Chinese metropolis of Shanghai.   Ono said the university, while valuing academic international partnerships, takes “matters of national security very seriously” and will better vet visa requirements for international students.

In August 2023 a group of Chinese students from the institute were confronted after midnight near Camp Grayling, where thousands of National Guard had gathered for summer drills.

House China Hawk John Moolenaar (R-MI) applauded the move. "My committee has put a spotlight on the fact that too many American universities are collaborating with CCP researchers on critical technologies including weapons, artificial intelligence, and nuclear physics.... In U-M’s case, its Chinese joint institute partner was helping the CCP modernize its military, and then five students who came to Michigan from China through the joint institute ended up spying on Camp Grayling."

U-M is the third American university to end a joint institute partnership with a Chinese university in the past five months after the Committee raised concerns about national security risks. Last fall, Georgia Tech announced it is ending the Georgia Tech Shenzhen Joint Institute and UC Berkeley began the process of shuttering its partnership with Tsinghua University.