American taxpayer funds have supported research at a leading Chinese Communist Party-owned laboratory central to Beijing’s push to monopolize control over rare earths.
The State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Materials Chemistry and Applications (SKL-REMCA) at Peking University is one of the regime’s most important arms of its scientific apparatus and has been central to China’s rise as the global leader in rare-earth processing. It operates under the supervision of China’s Ministry of Science and Technology and Ministry of Education, both explicitly tasked with advancing projects tied to China’s “national strategic needs.”
Despite this conflict of interest, U.S. federal funding from institutions including the Office of Naval Research, Department of Energy, and National Science Foundation have supported research conducted at SKL-REMCA.
Research into rare earth conducted under the Hundred Talents Program, a controversial program flagged by the U.S. government for its contributions to espionage and aiding China in winning the technology race.
The Center of China’s Rare Earth Machine
The State Key Lab is based in Peking University’s College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering. It was founded by Xu Guangxian, widely known as the father of China’s rare-earth industry.
The lab that carries on his work has remained at the forefront of China’s industrial research in this field, allowing the country to dominate nearly 100% of the world’s production and supply.
U.S. Funding Reached the Lab
Federal grant data and joint research filings show that projects involving scientists affiliated with the State Key Lab have received U.S. taxpayer support.
Several of these awards were active after 2018, when the U.S. government publicly identified rare-earth supply as a national security vulnerability.
11 studies on PubMed – the official U.S. government database for scientific research – lists research conducted by the Peking lab funded by U.S. federal dollars. In some cases, American researchers from leading universities are listed as co-authors.
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