Sen. Marco Rubio blows whistle on U.S. helping China strengthen its military, vows legislation

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio sounded the alarm on U.S. taxpayers helping fund collaborative research that directly benefits the Chinese military, and called on the federal government to stop benefitting the American adversary.

Rubio, vice chair of the Senate intelligence committee, said that a Naval Criminal Investigative Service report given to his office found that more than 5,000 “instances of research collaboration” have occurred between 2019 and 2024 with the U.S. Department of Defense and Chinese entities.

“These are not just any entities but groups closely linked to Beijing’s ambitions to steal American technology and defeat the U.S. military in a potential conflict,” Rubio said.