Scientists at America's top nuclear lab were recruited by China to design missiles and drones, repor

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Source: NBC News

Report says

At least 154 Chinese scientists who worked on U.S. government-sponsored research at the country’s foremost national security laboratory over the last two decades have been recruited to do scientific work in China — some of which helped advance military technology that threatens American national security, according to a new private intelligence report obtained by NBC News.

The report, by Strider Technologies, describes what it calls a systemic effort by the government of China to place Chinese scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory, where nuclear weapons were first developed.

Many of those scientists were later lured back to China to help make advances in such technologies as deep-earth penetrating warheads, hypersonic missiles, quiet submarines and drones, according to the report.

Scientists were paid as much as $1 million through participation in Chinese government “talent programs,” which are designed to recruit Chinese scientists to return to China. Such talent programs have long been identified as a source of concern, but American officials said they had not previously seen an unclassified report that described the phenomenon in such detail, naming specific scientists and the projects they have worked on.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/scientists-at-america-s-top-nuclear-lab-were-recruited-by-china-to-design-missiles-and-drones-report-says/ar-AA1260AQ?cvid=f7609026fd7a40ec815e5361c4704d2f

[OAITW r.2.0]

1. This is scary. Not sure what the answer is.

[lapfog_1]

3. classify more the programs at LANL

make sure these programs employ only people with TS clearances. Requires a background check back to early childhood... and (it used to) requires US Citizenship... and every contact with anyone not a US Citizen requires a report to be filed which tends to limit foreign contacts.

[DENVERPOPS]

14. How about

if a Chinese or Russian scientist wants to go back home, perform a lobotomy on them and then put them on a plane to their country....

[OAITW r.2.0]

15. Should we let them know at the time of employment engagement?

[rockfordfile]

2. Those people choose $ over country

[Igel]

4. They chose yuan and country.

Many were born their. Others were told that their "real" identity was loyalty to China.

[oldsoftie]

5. Just no way this should have been allowed.

And it must not be allowed to happen again.

[reACTIONary]

6. What are you advocating? That no one ...

... with Chinese heritage be allowed to work at a national research laboratory?

[Gaugamela]

9. From the wording in the article, these are Chinese nationals working

in these programs, not Americans with Chinese heritage.

[reACTIONary]

12. Then they are not doing any classified or national security work...

... and they are litterly locked out of areas where Americans are working. They wear badges that identify them as foreign nationals. So I'm not sure what the concern is.

[Gaugamela]

13. "The report . . . describes what it calls a systemic effort

by the government of China to place Chinese scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory, where nuclear weapons were first developed.”

Obviously, the Chinese government thinks there is something to be gained. We have no obligation to hire foreign nationals in sensitive research facilities.

[oldsoftie]

23. These weren't people who had a Chinese grandma. STOP hiring foreigners in these positions.

Foreigners from an adversarial country at the very LEAST. Its far too important of a position. ESPECIALLY China. They have developed a huge program of espionage; even better than russia. We already have far too much reliance on Chinese products that put us in a bad spot.
Putting Chinese people in nuclear weapons programs is just stupid. This isn't a factory making hand tools. Rules must be different. Security matters more than perceived fairness.

[reACTIONary]

25. That's not true. Several of the specific instances cited ...

... were concerning American citizens who relocated to China after conducting classified national security research. Since these positions required a security clearance, and only US citizens qualify for a security clearance, they were US citizens.

So, only US citizens can work on nuclear weapons programs, and it is already true that foreigners from adversarial countries - even from allied countries - cannot. Given that that is the case, what changes to the rules do you think should be made?

[Owl]

11. Exactly!

[Warpy]

7. When I worked at MIT decades ago, the postgrad programs were full of PRC nationals

so, yeah, it seems logical that places like Los Alamos would recruit them. I also don't fault them for wanting to go home, the culture at Los Alamos can be pretty toxic.

They are just going to be shocked to find out that million bucks will buy them a cement box with no wiring or plumbing in a hard to get to ghost city an hour out of wherever they're living. If they haven't been home for a while, it's going to be a shock.

[OAITW r.2.0]

16. This is not the time to be returning to China.....

Don't care how many Yuan's that they may be offered...

[former9thward]

18. They have to return once they graduate.

They don't get work visas.

[OAITW r.2.0]

19. Right.

Lotsa marriages happening, I imagine.

[Drum]

8. Yikes yikes yikes

[alphafemale]

10. I would guess that nearly every Chinese young person with a student visa is also spying

Or they would not be allowed to come.

[former9thward]

17. Almost all of the Chinese students at American universities

are children of the Communist Party elite. It is very expensive to pay the tuition foreign nationals pay at American schools plus all the expenses. Only children of the Party can afford it and are allowed to come to the U.S. They almost all take courses in the science and engineering majors. You don't see them majoring in Arts and Letters.

[OAITW r.2.0]

20. The Politburo, as you probably know, are all oligarchic billionaires.

The next level are mindful capitalists. In my travels to China, I never met a communist.

[dalton99a]

21. To Catch a Chinese Spy:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/audio/2022-09-15/to-catch-a-chinese-spy-podcast

[OhioTim]

22. Don't Allow Students

from countries that have long histories of spying into the United States. They are not here to study music, but to report back to their handlers.

[FreepFryer]

24. A good opportunity for US counter-intel. We are getting better at maximizing these opptys. nt

[RobinA]

26. Maybe Train More Americans

to be nuclear scientists or whatever is needed. We often seem to be using foreigners to do our scientific heavy lifting. Didn't a bunch of Germans help us build bombs and/or rockets?

[Hekate]

27. Why is Uncle Sam so stupid?