China urges US to drop restrictions on research institutions

China’s Ministry of Commerce has urged the United States to immediately roll back discriminatory restrictions targeting Chinese research institutions, warning that technological decoupling will ultimately undermine American innovation.

The statement came in response to a US Department of Defense security audit, which showed that several American universities had cut ties with entities on the Pentagon's Section 1286 list – a catalog that includes numerous Chinese scientific and academic bodies.

A ministry spokesperson condemned Washington for overstretching the concept of national security and for politicizing and weaponizing scientific research cooperation.

"The relevant US actions essentially coerce American research institutions into taking sides and deliberately sabotage normal China-US scientific cooperation," the spokesperson said, adding that such barriers will only weaken America's own technological progress and amount to "shooting itself in the foot."

Beijing vowed to take necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of its scientific research institutions.