MI5 Raises Alarm Over Chinese Funding of UK Academic Research

What happened

MI5 warns UK universities that over 100 academics may have unknowingly worked on research funded by a Chinese institute linked to the MSS. “More than 100 UK-linked academics have contributed to research projects funded by MSS via CGTRI. In some cases, academics may not be aware that CGTRI is funding the Chinese research project they are contributing to.”

On September 30, MI5 published a formal warning naming the China General Technology Research Institute, CGTRI, also called CAGT in some translations, as an outfit with very strong ties to China’s Ministry of State Security. MI5 says CGTRI exists mainly to “fund academic research that directly improves MSS technical capability for espionage.” That’s not vague suspicion, that’s the agency’s stated assessment of the institute’s whole reason for existing.