DeSantis hopes to to curb IP thefts
Plan requires large donations from foreign countries to be reported
TALLAHASSEE — Flanked by GOP legislators, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday called for a crackdown on China’s attempts to steal intellectual property and trade secrets from Florida universities and other institutions.
“For far too long, the Communist Party of China and other foreign adversaries have been deliberate in their economic infiltration of other nations, the United States in particular,” DeSantis said. “China has made it a mission to steal intellectual property from our businesses, our government, and our academic institutions — all to further fuel their global objectives.”
Among the proposals, universities would be required to report donations of $50,000 or more from six foreign “countries of concern” — China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Syria and Venezuela - and would be required to pay 105% of it back to the state if it isn’t disclosed.
Contractors with Florida cities would also be required to disclose connections to the specified countries, and those who steal trade secrets would face stiffer penalties if they benefit China or the other listed countries.
DeSantis unveiled the plan one day before the start of the 60-day legislative session, but took no questions, hinting he’d be available to reporters after he delivers the State of the State speech on Tuesday to open the session.
Led by Speaker Chris Sprowls, the House has been looking into foreign influence in Florida universities for the last year. He cited examples from the University of Florida, the University of Central Florida and the Moffit Cancer Center in Tampa, in which Chinese nationals stole intellectual property or failed to disclose improper connections to the Chinese government.
“We found that there are no limits to the depths to which other countries, especially China, will go to steal our science and technology,” Sprowls said. “Foreign adversaries use our university systems, local governments, research institutions, and companies to intimidate, influence, and steal their way to strategic advantage. Today, we are introducing legislation to combat foreign influence in our public institutions and prevent corporate espionage in Florida.”
Representatives of the United Faculty of Florida, a union of faculty members at state universities, pushed back on the move, arguing it isn’t needed and would lead to discrimination against Asian-American students and professors.
“Hate crimes about Chinese nationals has been on the rise since the former President blamed the pandemic on the Chinese,” said Candi Churchill, UFF executive director, in a statement. “Now the Governor is fueling those hate crimes by blaming a whole group for the alleged actions of a few.”
The issue began receiving attention from U.S. lawmakers in recent years, starting when U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio in 2018 asked state colleges to end their relationships with Chinese government-backed Confucius Institutes, which taught government-approved Chinese history and culture.
Several high-profile incidents and arrests have also fueled the scrutiny.
The University of Central Florida has seen four professors with ties to Chinese institutions fired or resigned in the past five years, including Xinzhang Wu, who spent 19 years at UCF before resigning and fleeing to China as school officials sought to ask him about his simultaneous employment at a Chinese university.
In another case, six researchers at Moffit Cancer Center resigned in December 2019, following reports they didn’t disclose their ties to China.
On Feb. 3, Lin Yang, a former University of Florida professor, was indicted on six counts of wire fraud and four counts of making false statements to U.S. officials for fraudulently obtaining $1.75 million in grant money from the National Institutes of Health.
Although the faculty union representatives acknowledge there is an issue, they expressed concern the bills pushed by DeSantis and the lawmakers could lead to overzealous enforcement that unfairly targets professors and students from China and the other countries simply because of their country of origin.