Eleven senators wrote to Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Jan. 13 seeking to ban Chinese nationals from U.S. national labs, concerned that their access would undermine the United States’ position in the artificial intelligence (AI) race.
The senators expressed concern about the thousands of Chinese nationals who have access to these national lab sites, information, and technology. In fiscal year 2024, about 3,200 Chinese nationals were approved for such access, and the lawmakers noted this figure does not include lawful permanent residents of the United States, “which means there are likely hundreds, perhaps thousands, more individual Chinese citizens working in our labs,” they wrote.
“Continuing to give access to the cutting-edge work performed at these laboratories to Chinese nationals who will turn everything they know over to the [Chinese Communist Party] directly undermines the purpose of Genesis Mission,” the letter reads.
The letter was co-signed by Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), James Risch (R-Idaho), Jim Justice (R-W.Va.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Dave McCormick (R-Pa.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), and Ted Budd (R-N.C.).
They recommend that the department implement a policy to prohibit Chinese nationals’ access to national laboratory sites, information, and technology.
Underpinning the espionage concern is the fact that Beijing has passed laws to require all Chinese citizens to assist in the state’s intelligence efforts, as well as the regime’s practice of transnational repression.
Human rights organization Freedom House ranks the Chinese regime among the worst transnational repressors, using tactics such as threatening family members residing in China in order to coerce overseas Chinese to participate in state operations.
The lawmakers cite such coercion as one reason that even proper vetting of these scientists is “not a sufficient safeguard.”
Additionally, the volume of individuals outpaces the department’s capacity to vet them, and China has made efforts to obfuscate links to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the lawmakers said.
“The best way to protect Genesis Mission, and the rest of the important work done throughout the labs, is to put an end to Chinese national scientists and researchers working at them,” they stated in the letter.
The report found that 2,000 Chinese nationals worked at national laboratories as of 2025. The lawmakers behind the report said they had interviewed department executives and found their rationale “naive.”
“Multiple [Energy Department] executives ... defended [the Chinese nationals’] continued presence ... by claiming, in effect, that we want them in our labs so they can see how advanced we are—and go back to China telling their colleagues, thus giving up on beating the United States,” the report reads.
The Department of Energy did not respond to an inquiry from The Epoch Times by publication time.
