China is investing more than $1.4 billion in a new institute run by former scientists at the Los Alamos nuclear weapons laboratory, part of an ambitious program to hire top U.S. scientists and obtain advanced American technology, according to an investigation by The Washington Times.
A new version of the Thousand Talents program
The Eastern Institute of Advanced Study (EIAS) is described on its Chinese website as the precursor to a planned project called the Eastern Institute of Technology (EIT) in Ningbo, China. Organizers are paying American scientists million-dollar salaries and providing other lucrative benefits for their knowledge of cutting-edge technology China has been unable to generate on its own.
The program so far has hired some of the United States’ most experienced scientists, according to documents and open-source research specialists who have studied the project.
The EIAS and the proposed EIT are a below-the-radar program backed financially and politically by the regional Chinese Communist Party in Ningbo, located south of Shanghai. The project also is the latest version of Beijing’s controversial “Thousand Talents” recruitment program.
The Thousand Talents program was targeted by the Justice Department’s China initiative for its focus on American high-tech knowledge and skills. Since 2018, the Justice Department unit has prosecuted more than 20 U.S. figures with ties to U.S. universities, many of whom were allegedly involved in sensitive U.S. government research at the same time they were covertly working for Chinese government-linked projects.
The China initiative was launched during the Trump administration in a bid to halt Chinese technology theft estimated to be valued at losses of between $250 billion and $600 billion annually. The legal initiative was halted by the Biden Administration over concerns the prosecutions appeared racially motivated.
The focus on semiconductors and nuclear technology
The EAIS plan for the Eastern Institute of Technology includes a multi-acre campus in Ningbo. However, the purpose of the plan is to systematically steal U.S. intellectual property, mainly in the field of semiconductors, according to security researchers familiar with the programs.
Semiconductors are the key components of modern electronics, such as computers, smartphones, and military equipment. China has been struggling to develop its own semiconductor industry, despite massive investments and subsidies from the government. The U.S. has imposed export restrictions on Chinese companies, such as Huawei, that rely on American-made chips for their products.
The EAIS website lists several research areas, such as quantum computing, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and materials science. However, the main focus is on semiconductors, especially the design and fabrication of integrated circuits, which are the building blocks of chips.
The EAIS also boasts of its collaboration with the Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering (NIMTE), a state-run research center that has been sanctioned by the U.S. for its involvement in China’s nuclear weapons program. The NIMTE is part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which oversees China’s nuclear research and development.
The EAIS claims that it has established a joint laboratory with the NIMTE, and that it has access to its advanced facilities and equipment, such as electron microscopes, nanofabrication tools, and supercomputers.
The recruitment of former Los Alamos scientists
The EAIS is led by two former scientists from the Los Alamos National Laboratory, the birthplace of the atomic bomb and one of the most prestigious and secretive research institutions in the U.S. The two scientists are Terry Wallace and Turab Lookman.
Wallace was the principal associate director for global security at Los Alamos, where he oversaw the lab’s work on nuclear deterrence, counterterrorism, intelligence, and cybersecurity. He retired in 2019, after 35 years of service. He is now the president of the EAIS, and the chief scientist of the EIT.
Lookman was a physicist and a team leader at Los Alamos, where he worked on computational materials science and machine learning. He was indicted in 2019, for lying to federal agents about his involvement in the Thousand Talents program. He pleaded guilty in 2020, and was sentenced to five years of probation and a $75,000 fine. He is now the vice president of the EAIS, and the director of the EIT.
The EAIS has also recruited several other former Los Alamos scientists, such as John Sarrao, Michael Rabin, and David Pappas. Sarrao was the associate director for theory, simulation, and computation at Los Alamos, where he worked on quantum materials and nanoscience. He is now the dean of the School of Physical Sciences and Engineering at the EAIS. Rabin was a materials scientist and a group leader at Los Alamos, where he worked on nanotechnology and energy storage. He is now the dean of the School of Materials Science and Engineering at the EAIS. Pappas was a physicist and a project leader at Los Alamos, where he worked on superconducting devices and quantum information. He is now the dean of the School of Quantum Science and Engineering at the EAIS.
The EAIS has also hired several prominent scientists from other U.S. institutions, such as Steven Chu, the former U.S. Secretary of Energy and a Nobel laureate in physics, John Hopcroft, a Turing Award winner and a professor of computer science at Cornell University, and Jennifer Doudna, a Nobel laureate in chemistry and a professor of biochemistry at the University of California, Berkeley.
The EAIS offers its recruits generous salaries, ranging from $500,000 to $2 million per year, as well as housing, health care, travel, and research funding. The EAIS also promises its recruits academic freedom, intellectual property rights, and protection from political interference.
The reaction from the U.S. government and experts
The U.S. government and experts have expressed alarm and outrage over the EAIS and its recruitment of top U.S. scientists. They have accused China of exploiting the openness and innovation of the U.S. scientific system, and of posing a serious threat to the U.S. national security and economic competitiveness.
The U.S. Department of Energy, which oversees the Los Alamos lab and other national labs, has launched an investigation into the EAIS and its ties to the NIMTE. The department has also tightened its rules and regulations on foreign collaborations, travel, and disclosure for its employees and contractors.
The U.S. Congress has also introduced several bills and resolutions to counter China’s technology theft and recruitment efforts. The bills and resolutions aim to enhance the oversight and accountability of the U.S. scientific community, to impose sanctions and penalties on individuals and entities involved in illicit technology transfers, and to support the development and protection of the U.S. semiconductor industry.
The U.S. experts and analysts have also criticized the EAIS and its recruits for their lack of ethics and patriotism. They have questioned the motives and credibility of the former Los Alamos scientists, who have sworn to protect the U.S. secrets and interests, but have now joined a rival and adversary. They have also warned of the potential risks and consequences of sharing the U.S. technology and know-how with China, which could use them for military and economic purposes.
