The United States expressed concern over reports of cooperation between the University of Montenegro and a research centre in the People’s Republic of China controlled by a leading research and engineering institution of the Chinese military. This was reported by the State Department.
The University of Montenegro signed a memorandum of cooperation in cryptography, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity with the National Supercomputing Technology Centre in Jinan, China, on July 18.
“This facility is operated by China’s National Defence Technology University (NDUT) and is sanctioned by the Department of Commerce,” the State Department said.
NDUT, which is controlled by China’s People’s Liberation Army, is a leader in supercomputing, a tool that allows scientists to run simulations critical to national defence as well as other important issues.
U.S. universities and companies have sharply curtailed research collaborations with Chinese institutions in recent years because of concerns about exploitation and theft of intellectual property, especially for Beijing’s military use.
To prevent the transfer of scientific knowledge to Washington’s main adversary, the United States has imposed sanctions on a number of Chinese research institutions linked to the Asian country’s military over the past decade. The Commerce Department imposed restrictions on NDUT in 2015.
Co-operation with universities in countries linked to the United States could potentially give China access to the latest research from the states.
Given Montenegro’s membership in NATO and its regional leadership in building cyber capabilities, the State Department believes that “its partnerships in sensitive areas such as artificial intelligence and cybersecurity should be consistent with NATO’s overall security priorities and avoid promoting or collaborating with organisations associated with China’s military modernisation efforts”.
The diplomatic agency added: “it is important that academic and research institutions adopt robust research security measures, including but not limited to screening their potential collaborations for links to organisations of concern.”
The memorandum of co-operation was signed by the university’s rector, Vladimir Bozhovich, who received his doctorate in the United States in mathematics and cryptography, including methods and principles of encryption. While studying in the United States, he also worked as a researcher at the Centre for Cryptology and Information Security (CCIS) in Florida.
Rectorate did not respond to Radio Liberty’s question about why it signed an agreement with an institution under US sanctions, given that Montenegro is a NATO member and the Western Balkans Cyber Capability Centre (WB3C) is located there.
Montenegro does not have to comply with US sanctions that restrict US companies and individuals from transacting with blocked entities, but Washington disapproves of allies and partners who do not.
It is unclear what financial or human capital the University of Montenegro will receive from China’s National Supercomputing Centre in Jinan under the cooperation agreement, and whether it will receive any at all.
The University of Montenegro is also co-operating with other Chinese companies under US sanctions.
In December, a delegation led by Božović travelled to China to meet with representatives of leading IT companies, notably Hikvision, which was blacklisted by the US Department of Commerce in 2019