美国国家公共电台 NPR FBI Urges Universities To Monitor Some Chinese Students And Scholars In The U.S.

 

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

The U.S. government is urging universities to monitor the Chinese researchers who work for them. Intelligence agencies cite concerns over spying and the theft of intellectual property. NPR's Emily Feng joins us in the studio. Welcome.

EMILY FENG, BYLINE¹: Thanks, Audie.

CORNISH: So you've been digging into this. So far, what have you learned? What's actually happening?

FENG: What university administrators² have been telling us is the FBI, other counterintelligence officials had been visiting them over the last year or so. And they're encouraging universities to develop protocols³ for monitoring the researchers from China that come work for them in STEM fields. So these are science, technology, engineering and math fields. The FBI wants to know what these students are working on, which labs they're working in and any affiliations⁴ they might have with Chinese institutions that the FBI finds suspect.

And this is all because there are these fears now that Chinese students and researchers can be co-opted as nontraditional spies for China to steal technology and help China get ahead. Here's Bill Evanina. He's the top counterintelligence official for the U.S. government.

BILL EVANINA: We have to do a better, more effective job in the government explaining what that threat is, what does it look like and feel like on campus and what is that technology they might be developing or researching on campus that adversaries⁵ are looking forward to stealing, whether it be intellectual property, trade secrets or IP theft or just research in general.

CORNISH: You used the term nontraditional spies. Can you talk about this idea of the threat of espionage⁶ from Chinese researchers? How real is that?

FENG: There have been a couple of documented cases in the last year of academics who've been accused of espionage and fired. And there also have been a lot of high-profile cases in the last year of people investigated and then exonerated⁷. The problem here is that universities are saying they're told to monitor researchers, but they're not given any evidence as to why they should.

CORNISH: Is this approach from the FBI or from the federal government unusual? Is this how they usually act on these kinds of concerns?

FENG: I mean, they liaise with the private sector⁸, and that's basically the comment that the FBI gave to me when I asked them about this for the story. What's exceptional here, though, is just how broad the briefings are. The FBI is essentially⁹ going to universities and preemptively saying, can you give us information on these people simply because you have a collaboration¹⁰ with a Chinese researcher or Chinese institutions? And just a sign of how worried the U.S. is about Chinese espionage, particularly in academia.

Intelligence officials also told NPR that they're going to hundreds of CEOs, investors¹¹, think tanks, basically anyone who travels to China frequently, and telling them, you got to be on alert for cybersecurity threats and espionage threats.

CORNISH: To go back to schools for a second, though, how are universities reacting to this?

FENG: They're obviously not happy. I mean, they want to protect U.S. intellectual property. At the same time, they want more specific instructions, and they don't want to just target Chinese people. It's important to note they do have compliance¹² protocols to make sure they're not, you know, doing research with a banned company. But they say right now the directions they're given are so vague that it could lead to a lot of subjective¹³ error and discrimination.

I talked to Fred Cate. He's a vice¹⁴ president of Research at Indiana University, and he says all this could harm research.

FRED CATE: Given the penalties involved, we're - there's going to be a pressure to lean on the side of conservatism and withholding¹⁵ more and more information.

FENG: What he's saying is that universities could eventually decide to just limit the kind of research they do and particularly who works on that research.

CORNISH: Emily, it sounds like universities basically have to walk this line between wanting to do cutting-edge research with the best and brightest in the world, but then also the U.S. government telling them to watch out. I mean, is it possible to monitor so many foreign students?

FENG: University leaders I spoke¹⁶ to say they don't have the right answer right now. There are about 340,000 Chinese students who come every single year. But they're going to have to make a decision because right now universities are unwillingly¹⁷ at this forefront of a question of how to balance national security and maintain your global engagement with the research community. And whatever decision they make is going to have real significance. I mean, it not only affects how global research is done but also whether or not Chinese American and Chinese researchers come under scrutiny¹⁸.

CORNISH: That's NPR's Emily Feng. Thanks for your reporting.

FENG: Thanks, Audie.

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 administrators   

n.管理者( administrator的名词复数 )；有管理（或行政）才能的人；（由遗嘱检验法庭指定的）遗产管理人；奉派暂管主教教区的牧师

参考例句：

• He had administrators under him but took the crucial decisions himself. 他手下有管理人员，但重要的决策仍由他自己来做。 来自辞典例句
• Administrators have their own methods of social intercourse. 办行政的人有他们的社交方式。 来自汉英文学 - 围城

3 protocols   

n.礼仪( protocol的名词复数 )；（外交条约的）草案；（数据传递的）协议；科学实验报告（或计划）

参考例句：

• There are also protocols on the testing of nuclear weapons. 也有关于核武器试验的协议。 来自辞典例句
• Hardware components and software design of network transport protocols are separately introduced. 介绍系统硬件组成及网络传输协议的软件设计。 来自互联网

4 affiliations   

n.联系( affiliation的名词复数 )；附属机构；亲和性；接纳

参考例句：

• She had affiliations of her own in every capital. 她原以为自己在欧洲各国首府都有熟人。 来自辞典例句
• The society has many affiliations throughout the country. 这个社团在全国有很多关系。 来自辞典例句

5 adversaries   

n.对手，敌手( adversary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• That would cause potential adversaries to recoil from a challenge. 这会迫使潜在的敌人在挑战面前退缩。 来自辞典例句
• Every adversaries are more comfortable with a predictable, coherent America. 就连敌人也会因有可以预料的，始终一致的美国而感到舒服得多。 来自辞典例句

6 espionage   

n.间谍行为，谍报活动

参考例句：

• The authorities have arrested several people suspected of espionage.官方已经逮捕了几个涉嫌从事间谍活动的人。
• Neither was there any hint of espionage in Hanley's early life.汉利的早期生活也毫无进行间谍活动的迹象。

7 exonerated   

v.使免罪，免除( exonerate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The police report exonerated Lewis from all charges of corruption. 警方的报告免除了对刘易斯贪污的所有指控。
• An investigation exonerated the school from any blame. 一项调查证明该学校没有任何过失。 来自辞典例句

8 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

9 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

10 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

11 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

12 compliance   

n.顺从；服从；附和；屈从

参考例句：

• I was surprised by his compliance with these terms.我对他竟然依从了这些条件而感到吃惊。
• She gave up the idea in compliance with his desire.她顺从他的愿望而放弃自己的主意。

13 subjective   

a.主观(上)的，个人的

参考例句：

• The way they interpreted their past was highly subjective. 他们解释其过去的方式太主观。
• A literary critic should not be too subjective in his approach. 文学评论家的看法不应太主观。

14 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

15 withholding   

扣缴税款

参考例句：

• She was accused of withholding information from the police. 她被指控对警方知情不报。
• The judge suspected the witness was withholding information. 法官怀疑见证人在隐瞒情况。

16 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

17 unwillingly   

adv.不情愿地

参考例句：

• He submitted unwillingly to his mother. 他不情愿地屈服于他母亲。
• Even when I call, he receives unwillingly. 即使我登门拜访，他也是很不情愿地接待我。

18 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。