Expert warns: Chinese military research at Swedish universities

Stefan Kristiansson is now raising a warning about the collaborations conducted at Swedish universities with researchers affiliated with China's military, PLA. In a report for the think tank Frivärld, he writes:

“China is striving to develop a modern defense industry. Sweden facilitates this development by Swedish universities accepting PLA researchers. We are contributing Swedish tax revenue to increased operational military capacity for China ”.

At major Swedish universities, collaborations with Chinese researchers are increasingly taking place. At Lund University, a total of 1,360 co-publications have been conducted with China over the past ten years, with increasing frequency.

In Lund, 51 of the scientific collaborations have been made with researchers related to the Chinese defense force, according to a report from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

- In Sweden, there is a large proportion of researchers with a clear residence in the Chinese military, PLA, compared to other countries. Swedish universities have made important contributions to China's military development, says the report's author Alex Joske to SVT News.

At the Royal Institute of Technology, there is no special action plan for Chinese researchers or students and nationality is not registered.

At the University of Lund, no routine checks are made by foreign researchers. Openness and academic freedom are considered important to safeguard. Work is underway on an action plan and a checklist. This spring, the Swedish security police informed the members of the university's international council, according to Pro-Rector Sylva Schwaag Serger.

- We invited Säpo to strengthen our ability to ask the right questions. We want to give the individual researchers better support and expertise. Many EU countries are now working to raise awareness of research in an increasingly complex world, Sylva Schwaag Serger told SVT News.

Alex Joske, the researcher in Australia, believes that universities should go further:

"It is not too much to ask that universities stop collaborating with researchers who are openly part of China's defense sector or who state that they come from universities that do not even exist," he says.