US Air Force report reveals Australian universities collaborated with Beijing on military technology
EXCLUSIVE: Leading Australian universities have been identified by a US Air Force-affiliated think tank as collaborating with Chinese defence institutes which develop advanced military warfare for Beijing.
Leading Australian universities have been identified by a US Air Force-affiliated think tank as collaborating with Chinese defence institutes which develop advanced military warfare for Beijing.
A report by the Alabama-based China Aerospace Studies Institute has documented academic exchanges or contacts between 2015 and 2025, including the “long-term” cooperation between the University of Sydney and Chinese defence laboratories.
“While the US had the highest number of interactions, with 204 of the 713 recorded, several other Western countries had higher rates of contact among fewer institutions, including Australia, the U.K., Canada, the Netherlands, and Sweden,” the study finds.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.The 236-page report lists sensitive US and allied technologies being discussed during conferences or developed during joint research projects that could have assisted the Chinese military.
They include know-how in hypersonic missile propulsion, explosives, submarine acoustics and hydrodynamics, aircraft controls, jet engine development, ballistic missile penetration, anti-electronic jamming, composite materials for spacecraft and advanced semiconductor fabrication.
Most of the collaboration involved conferences or events at Chinese defence and military laboratories or universities, as well as long-term research and training between Chinese military facilities and US and Western entities, including some joint research centres.
The University of Sydney was identified in the report as having the fourth “most Interactions with People’s Republic of China (PRC) Defence Labs” since 2015, including on antennas and microwave technology, as well as communications anti-jamming technology.
Among the other examples identified in the report are the Australian National University’s participation in an Autonomous Unmanned Systems conference in 2024, and work by RMIT University on marine corrosion and protection.
The University of New South Wales, which provides academic education at the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra, was cited for joint work with China on ballistics as well as materials technology in impact environments.
“Needless to say, such interactions between Western research institutions and (People’s Republic of China) military research labs (are) at the very least problematic, and at most an urgent security concern,” the report warns.
“While some instances described herein are more troubling than others, even the seemingly less problematic cases provide opportunities for the gathering of valuable technology and knowledge by actors whose main goal is to develop new technologies for the PRC military.”
Last week Foreign Minister Penny Wong defended her recent “risk-aware” decision to cancel several research agreements between Australia and Chinese universities on national security grounds.
Speaking at the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday, Universities Australia chair Carolyn Evans insisted the tertiary sector “should always research with China”.
“I think we should not outsource our foreign policy to the United States ever, and now in particular. Second, I want to acknowledge that the Minister for Foreign Affairs will have access to information that we don’t necessarily have, and we do have to accept that.”
“There’s a bit of a mentality in Australia to think about research in China as though it’s very substandard, just waiting to steal intellectual property from Australia,” she said in response to a question from The Nightly.
“China invests in research infrastructure and research capability in outstanding scientists at a rate that would absolutely shock most Australians.
Professor Evans said tertiary institutions have had “some really productive discussions with the intelligence services” and acknowledged that sometimes “there are things that sometimes universities could be naive about”.
“Ten years ago, I think as a sector, there were some fair criticisms to be made. I don’t think we have a sector-wide problem anymore,” the University of Melbourne’s next vice chancellor added.
“Can we account for the actions of every single individual researcher, and you know there have been a couple of researchers who’ve probably done things that are a little bit silly. But does that create a national emergency that needs dealing with in some significant or substantive way? No”.
The University of Sydney said it was not familiar with the China Aerospace Studies Institute but vowed to review the report.
“Our researchers comply with all applicable laws, government guidance and guidelines, ethics requirements, codes of research conduct and all university policies, codes and standards in conducting research in Australia,” a spokesperson said.
“Our research contributes to many important medical breakthroughs and technological advances, and develops alternative energy sources to give a few examples.”
