British universities have been put on notice by MI5 over a research funder the agency ties to Beijing’s spies. In a rare public step, MI5 named the China General Technology Research Institute (CGTRI). The institute is also rendered as the China Academy of General Technology (CAGT). More than 100 academics with UK links, it said, contributed to projects CGTRI paid for.
Those projects, MI5 says, were meant to sharpen Chinese espionage. The institute holds “very strong ties” to the Ministry of State Security (MSS), the country’s civilian intelligence service, and its “primary purpose” is bankrolling academic work that boosts MSS technical spying. Fields involved included steganography, covert communications, cybersecurity and AI. Some scholars, the agency accepts, probably never learned who was ultimately paying.
MI5 accepts that many of those involved likely acted without knowing, deceived by the institute’s obscured ties to intelligence. Universities were urged to immediately re-examine every current or planned tie to CGTRI and to ensure no further British research benefits Beijing.
The alert steers universities toward the National Security Act 2023, under which MI5 flagged two specific offenses: assisting a foreign intelligence service, and accepting a material benefit from one. Individuals or institutions that keep working with the funder, the agency warned, should seek independent legal advice.
