The Foundation for German Research has called for significantly stricter regulations concerning scientific cooperation with China. This call follows reports by the newspaper Handelsblatt concerning alleged contacts between the Helmholtz Center for Information Security (CISPA) in Saarbrücken, which raised concerns about potential risks.
Melanie Maas-Brunner, president of the Association, emphasized the need for clear guidelines on how to responsibly engage with a nation like China. The former BASF technology executive argued that it is necessary to structure future collaborations at both universities and research institutes much more meticulously.
Maas-Brunner specifically demanded the implementation of “due diligence”-a detailed risk assessment procedure. This process must thoroughly investigate partners’ backgrounds and intentions to establish precisely what activities are permitted and which are prohibited. Furthermore, she insisted that the primary consideration in any partnership must always be the organization’s own benefit. “We must know: Why are we doing it, where is our advantage?” she stated, adding that such collaboration with Chinese entities can only be justified under these conditions.
