Is MIT's research helping the Chinese military?

This problem isn’t unique to the McGovern Institute or MIT, which are filled with talented scholars who want to advance science for the good of humanity. The problem is not necessarily with any specific institution in China. The problem is the nature of an autocratic system that is only as ethical and trustworthy as its rulers—who avail themselves by decree of all scientific research and data generated in China.

Nobody on the McGovern board can be certain whether the institute’s collaboration with the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, or with Chinese universities, benefits the Chinese military. These institutions don’t fall under U.S. law or MIT rules. They fall under China’s laws, including its 2017 National Intelligence Law, which requires Chinese institutions to share information with the government on demand, and the 13th Five-Year Plan for Military and Civil Fusion, which focuses on “cross-pollination of military and civilian technology” in areas including “neuroscience and brain-inspired research.”

Given my concerns, the logical next step would be a thoughtful discussion. As an academic institution, we should promote diversity of opinion and sincere debate. Yet when colleagues at the institute abruptly shut down this idea, I saw little merit in continuing to express my concerns internally—or in remaining on the board.