CHINA
The Academic Technology Approval Scheme
The UK has not explicitly banned any Chinese students or researchers from applying to its academic or research institutions. However, since 2007, the UK has operated the Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) to "address transfers of sensitive knowledge through postgraduate study".[1] ATAS certificates may be issued to prospective post-graduate students and researchers after an assessment of their previous publications and studies, previous employment, arrangements for funding, declarations by referees and vetting of their personal details.[2]
The scheme was originally designed to protect the transfer of knowledge that could be used to construct or deploy Weapons of Mass Destruction. The scheme was broadened to include Advanced Conventional Military Technology in September 2020, and to "cover researchers with access to proliferation sensitive information in universities and research institutes" in May 2021.
While we were informed that the latter change was "not a China specific measure and relates solely to research",[3] the initial change was widely reported to be in response to concerns over Chinese nationals.[4] Indeed, the Chief of Defence Intelligence (CDI) told the Committee in December 2020 that the September 2020 change had been informed by the results of a June 2019 pilot, which demonstrated the disproportionate scale of the threat posed by Chinese students. Of the students examined under the pilot, *** of those refused had been Chinese (the other *** were from "the rest of the world", so a wide geographical spread). CDI explained that the pilot had refused *** out of the *** Chinese students who had been looked at, meaning that ***% of those Chinese students who had had their activity examined had been refused.
He told the Committee:
that pilot showed the scale of the problem and therefore the [changes] that have been brought in since October now give us the opportunity to be more rigorous in our approach around ATAS, both in terms of its scope so it's more than just Weapons of Mass Destruction and associated technology, it now includes advanced conventional weapons … ***.[5]
- ↑ 'Student Vetting: The UK’s Academic Technology Approval Scheme', Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, February 2015.
- ↑ 'Guidance on how to apply for an ATAS certificate', Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, 14 May 2021.
- ↑ Written evidence—HMG, 2 February 2021.
- ↑ 'Chinese students face ban amid security fears', The Times, 1 October 2020.
- ↑ Oral evidence—DI, *** December 2020.
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