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Report: U.S. College Unintentionally Advanced Chinese Surveillance Machine

The report says 20 pilot cities adopted standards tied to the partnership, and the broader research network included a sanctioned defense-linked Chinese entity.

  • A Strategy Risks report found that a 2017 Joint Research Institute partnership between UW-Madison and Southeast University helped develop vehicle-road-cloud standards. These technologies were deployed across 20 Chinese pilot cities in July 2024, enabling real-time vehicle tracking and remote commands.
  • China's Ministry of Public Security integrated these JRI-advocated standards into national infrastructure to "deploy technologies that further entrench China's surveillance state." The systems link sensors and cloud servers, functioning as a surveillance and control mechanism capable of tracking vehicles in real time.
  • Beyond transportation, federally funded UW-Madison physicists participated for a decade in the Tianlai radio astronomy experiment. This research network involved a Chinese subsidiary of a major defense conglomerate, which the U.S. has identified as a principal contractor under long-standing sanctions.
  • Director of Research Sam Shulman at Strategy Risks urged universities to implement stronger, recurring due diligence examining foreign partners' shifting geopolitical risk profiles. UW-Madison has not yet responded to requests for comment regarding the report's findings.
  • Strategy Risks is not "alleging espionage or intentional technology transfer by UW-Madison," Shulman noted, but academic partnerships can unintentionally aid surveillance systems. The firm uses public data to help institutions "identify, measure, and reduce their geopolitical risks.
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Fox News broke the news in New York, United States on Tuesday, October 6, 2026.
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