Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what collaborations on medical research are currently taking place between government-funded universities in the UK, and medical and research institutions based in China; and whether any of these collaborations relate to organ transplantation.
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
The International Science Partnerships Fund and Newton Fund have active medical research programmes involving collaborations between UK Higher Education Institutions and Chinese counterparts. These predominantly focus on antimicrobial resistance and pandemic preparedness and none of them relate to organ transplantation.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Civitas report, Strategic Dependence of UK Universities on China – and where should they turn next?, which suggests that up to one-third of Chinese funding to UK universities comes from sources linked to the Chinese military or banned by the United States; and what plans they have to investigate those links and to address the situation.
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
The UK government’s approach to China is rooted in the UK national interest. We will not accept collaborations which compromise our national security. We have taken steps to significantly strengthen the UK’s protections from overseas interference in our higher education and research sector, including through our Trusted Research Campaign and the direct support offered by the Research Collaboration Advice Team. The updated International Education Strategy also advises Universities to ensure they have appropriate processes in place to manage risks associated with dependence on a single source of funding. As part of the Integrated Review Refresh, we are conducting a detailed review of the measures designed to support our academic sector to keep their research secure.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the finding in the Civitas report, The Strategic Dependence of UK Universities on China – and where should they turn next?, that Huawei Technologies and its subsidiaries are the single largest source of Chinese funding to British universities since 2017.
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
The UK government’s approach to China is rooted in the UK national interest. We will not accept collaborations which compromise our national security. We have taken steps to significantly strengthen the UK’s protections from overseas interference in our higher education and research sector, including through our Trusted Research Campaign and the direct support offered by the Research Collaboration Advice Team. The updated International Education Strategy also advises Universities to ensure they have appropriate processes in place to manage risks associated with dependence on a single source of funding. As part of the Integrated Review Refresh, we are conducting a detailed review of the measures designed to support our academic sector to keep their research secure.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what support, guidance or advice they provide to universities to ensure that universities are not reliant on funding from hostile regimes.
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
The UK government’s approach to China is rooted in the UK national interest. We will not accept collaborations which compromise our national security. We have taken steps to significantly strengthen the UK’s protections from overseas interference in our higher education and research sector, including through our Trusted Research Campaign and the direct support offered by the Research Collaboration Advice Team. The updated International Education Strategy also advises Universities to ensure they have appropriate processes in place to manage risks associated with dependence on a single source of funding. As part of the Integrated Review Refresh, we are conducting a detailed review of the measures designed to support our academic sector to keep their research secure.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the partnership between the University of Cambridge and a subsidiary of a Chinese state-owned military technology company which has sold the CH-4 drone to the Myanmar military junta.
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is clear that universities must operate within the law, and is committed to supporting UK research institutions to engage with Chinese companies in a way that reflects the UK’s values and takes account of national security concerns. As part of our proactive engagement with academia, the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology provides the Research Collaboration Advice Team (RCAT) to give advice to all universities, including the University of Cambridge, on national security risks in international collaborations. RCAT promotes greater understanding about the UK’s security policies and regulations, and has provided tailored advice on many complex issues which have resulted in targeted mitigations of national security concerns.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the University of Cambridge about its links with a Chinese state-owned military technology firm whose parent company produces missiles, weapons systems and drones.
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is clear that universities must operate within the law, and is committed to supporting UK research institutions to engage with Chinese companies in a way that reflects the UK’s values and takes account of national security concerns. As part of our proactive engagement with academia, the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology provides the Research Collaboration Advice Team (RCAT) to give advice to all universities, including the University of Cambridge, on national security risks in international collaborations. RCAT promotes greater understanding about the UK’s security policies and regulations, and has provided tailored advice on many complex issues which have resulted in targeted mitigations of national security concerns.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether any UK academic institutions have been notified that they will lose access to research databases provided by the China National Knowledge Infrastructure platform; and what assessment they have made of extent to which academic institutions in China currently have access to academic research databases funded by UK research councils
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Department does not collect data on institutional subscriptions to the China National Knowledge Infrastructure platform.
The UK is a global leader in open research. UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) support the principle that research data and publications are as open as possible and as secure as necessary. Responsible and trusted research requires a balance of considerations which are expressed in the UK Research and Innovation Trusted Research and Innovation Principles, published in 2021. Science outcomes published in Research Councils' open research databases are available to all subscribers.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by the Minister of State, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (HC Deb col 121WH) where he stated that Genomics England “was suffering several hack attacks from BGI each week”, what steps they are taking, if any, against that company; and what steps they will take to scrutinise other Chinese genomic companies.
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
There is no recorded evidence of BGI attempting to hack Genomics England in 2014, and the Minister has amended the Hansard record accordingly. However, like most organisations they do receive regular attempts to access their systems, for which there are appropriate defences in place and no successful breaches have occurred.
Our current protocols allow Genomics England, UK Biobank and NIHR BioResource to consider national security in decision making about partnerships with companies overseas. These organisations have consulted with security personnel in the past to ensure partnerships are aligned with our national security interests.
As part of the new UK Biological Security Strategy, the Government is undertaking a full programme of work to assess how we can minimise the risks from biological data to protect our burgeoning bioeconomy, shape global norms and standards, without stifling innovation, and build confidence in sharing personal data to improve health outcomes in the UK and across the world.
We will conduct this work in conjunction with our partners at home, including Genomics England, the NHS and UK Biobank, and with our partners and allies around the world. The new UK Biological Security Strategy, to be published in the coming months, is part of the wider strategic direction of the Integrated Review, under which we are reviewing our policies on export controls and addressing potential vendors of concern across the economy.