Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), one of the world’s top universities, is cutting ties with Chinese telecoms groups Huawei and ZTE following concerns over cyber security risks and appropriation of intellectual property. MIT said it would not engage in any future projects with Huawei and ZTE, or renew existing ones, and will strengthen its screening process for research and other collaboration proposals from China, Hong Kong, Russia and Saudi Arabia. A letter published by the University pointed to “risks related to intellectual property, export controls, data security and access, economic competitiveness, national security, and political, civil and human rights, as well as potential impacts on the MIT community, consistency with MIT’s core values, and alignment with MIT’s academic mission.” Several elite universities in the US, Australia and the UK, including Stanford and Oxford, have already stopped taking funding from Huawei after the US government accused the company of stealing American technology and breaking US sanctions against Iran. These concerns have spilled over into wider fears in Washington of intellectual property theft, espionage and China’s growing tech capability.

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Financial Times