Stanford academics underplay Chinese espionage

China views American universities as places from which spies can be recruited and secrets can be stolen. Beijing has deployed thousands of intelligence officers and agents to steal cutting-edge research for the Chinese Communist Party’s benefit.

This bears note following the publication on Monday of a Sept. 8 letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland. Written by 177 Stanford University faculty members, the letter demanded an end to the FBI-led “China Initiative.” The initiative has focused resources on disrupting Chinese intelligence activity in U.S. society. Unfortunately, the Stanford signatories offered only a passing hat tip to this important objective.