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Bochen Han

The White House’s top science adviser on Wednesday said that the Biden administration’s decision to get rid of the Justice Department’s China Initiative was “damaging”, though stopped short of recommending that it should be fully brought back.
Asked by Florida Republican Daniel Webster whether the termination of the programme aimed at combating alleged economic espionage from Beijing was detrimental, Michael Kratsios, the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, said: “It certainly was damaging.”
“We have recognised, and the China Select Committee has also brought to light, a lot of attempted infiltration by nefarious actors of our research enterprise across the Department of War, Department of Energy and many of our other research agencies,” Kratsios said.
He added that it was “important that we remain vigilant in monitoring, tracking and setting up the right safeguards to protect our research ecosystem”, pointing to a Pentagon memorandum from last week that strengthens research security measures against Chinese entities.


The comments were made at a hearing hosted by the House Science Committee, and came just days after House lawmakers stripped language attached to a commerce, justice and science appropriations bill that would have effectively reinstated the initiative.
The Justice Department initiative, launched in 2018 under Donald Trump’s first term, was widely criticised for leading to misguided, racially motivated and excessive prosecutions, and contributing to an exodus of top scientific talent from the US to China.
According to the Department of Justice, only eight of 28 China Initiative cases resulted in convictions or guilty pleas as of August 2021. Four of the convictions or pleas related to academic fraud, and four related to economic espionage and trade theft. As of 2024, an archived department webpage identified 58 cases tied to the China Initiative – a list believed to be incomplete.
The initiative was scrapped by US President Joe Biden’s administration in 2022, with the department pledging to use a “broader approach” beyond just focusing on the potential threat from Beijing.
However, there have been multiple efforts to revive the initiative since then, particularly from Republicans in the House. An accompanying report to the 2026 commerce, justice and science funding bill called for its re-establishment to “maintain America’s competitive edge” and “counter China’s malign ambitions to steal American research”.
Lawmakers, particularly Republicans, have also sought to tighten measures against the US government’s collaboration with Chinese researchers. Last week, months after the House Select Committee on the Communist Party published a report on Pentagon funding of projects involving Chinese research institutions, the Defence Department said it would stop providing fundamental research help to companies it deems linked to the Chinese military.
Kratsios was also asked on Wednesday what steps could be taken to mitigate potential technological risks posed by the presence of roughly 250,000 Chinese students in the US.
Responding to a question by Georgia Republican Rich McCormick, he stressed the use of federal research and development dollars for American scientists and technologists.
“That’s something that we’re going to continue to emphasise as an office and make sure that as we put out [Notices of Funding Opportunity] and other requests for funding, that we’re funding American students.”


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US top science adviser Michael Kratsios says ceasing programme aimed at combating economic espionage from Beijing ‘damaging’


US top science adviser Michael Kratsios says ceasing programme aimed at combating economic espionage from Beijing ‘damaging’.


White House says Biden decision to scrap China Initiative flawed

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}US top science adviser Michael Kratsios says ceasing programme aimed at combating economic espionage from Beijing ‘damaging’

US top science adviser Michael Kratsios says ceasing programme aimed at combating economic espionage from Beijing ‘damaging’