AB relaxes restrictions on university partnerships involving China

The Government of Alberta has relaxed some restrictions on university partnerships with people or institutions linked to the Chinese government. In a letter to major Albertan universities, AB stated that “low-risk agreements,” such as partnerships involving “undergraduate student mobility,” and “corporate training opportunities,” can now resume, since they have been deemed to not threaten intellectual property and national security. Research areas deemed a threat to national security, such as artificial intelligence, photonics, biotechnology, and genomic and brain research, especially when involving graduate students, remain prohibited. UAlberta spokesman Ross Neitz stated that the pause on links to China continues “while both our institution, and related federal bodies, re-evaluate the risks involved.” The Globe and Mail reports that other universities did not offer a comment. The Globe and Mail Note: Archived stories may contain dead links or be missing source links.