II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1368 

To counter the military-civil fusion strategy of the Chinese Communist Party 

and prevent United States contributions to the development of dualuse technology in China. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 27, 2023 

Mr. RUBIO (for himself, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. SCOTT of Florida, and Mr. 

BRAUN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To counter the military-civil fusion strategy of the Chinese 

Communist Party and prevent United States contributions to the development of dual-use technology in China. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Preventing PLA Ac5 quisition of United States Technology Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. COUNTERING THE MILITARY-CIVIL FUSION STRAT7 EGY OF THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) CHINESE ENTITY OF CONCERN.—The term 

2 ‘‘Chinese entity of concern’’ means— 

3 (A) any college or university in the Peo4 ple’s Republic of China that is determined by 

5 the Secretary of Defense to be involved in the 

6 implementation of the military-civil fusion strat7 egy, including— 

8 (i) any college or university known as 

9 the ‘‘Seven Sons of National Defense’’; 

10 (ii) any college or university that re11 ceives funding from— 

12 (I) the People’s Liberation Army; 

13 or 

14 (II) the Equipment Development 

15 Department, or the Science and Tech16 nology Commission, of the Central 

17 Military Commission; 

18 (iii) any college or university in the 

19 People’s Republic of China involved in 

20 military training and education, including 

21 any such college or university in partner22 ship with the People’s Liberation Army; 

23 (iv) any college or university in the 

24 People’s Republic of China that conducts 

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1 tary initiatives or laboratories, including 

2 such a college or university designated 

3 under the ‘‘double first-class university 

4 plan’’; 

5 (v) any college or university in the 

6 People’s Republic of China that is des7 ignated by the State Administration for 

8 Science, Technology, and Industry for the 

9 National Defense to host ‘‘joint construc10 tion’’ programs; 

11 (vi) any college or university in the 

12 People’s Republic of China that has 

13 launched a platform for military-civil fu14 sion or created national defense labora15 tories; and 

16 (vii) any college or university in the 

17 People’s Republic of China that conducts 

18 research or hosts dedicated initiatives or 

19 laboratories for any other related security 

20 entity beyond the People’s Liberation 

21 Army, including the People’s Armed Po22 lice, the Ministry of Public Security, and 

23 the Ministry of State Security; 

24 (B) any enterprise for which the majority 

25 shareholder or ultimate parent entity is the 


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1 Government of the People’s Republic of China 

2 at any level of that government; 

3 (C) any privately owned company in the 

4 People’s Republic of China— 

5 (i) that has received a military pro6 duction license, such as the Weapons and 

7 Equipment Research and Production Cer8 tificate, the Equipment Manufacturing 

9 Unit Qualification, the Weapons and 

10 Equipment Quality Management System 

11 Certificate, or the Weapons and Equip12 ment Research and Production Unit Clas13 sified Qualification Permit; 

14 (ii) that is otherwise known to have 

15 set up mechanisms for engaging in activity 

16 in support of military initiatives; 

17 (iii) that has a history of subcon18 tracting for the People’s Liberation Army 

19 or its affiliates; 

20 (iv) that is participating in, or receiv21 ing benefits under, a military-civil fusion 

22 demonstration base; or 

23 (v) that has an owner, director, or a 

24 senior management official who has served 

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1 gress, a member of the Chinese People’s 

2 Political Consultative Conference, or a 

3 member of the Central Committee of the 

4 Chinese Communist Party; and 

5 (D) any entity that— 

6 (i) is identified by the Secretary of 

7 Defense under section 1260H(a) of the 

8 William M. (Mac) Thornberry National 

9 Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 

10 2021 (10 U.S.C. 113 note) as a Chinese 

11 military company; and 

12 (ii) is included in the Non-SDN Chi13 nese Military-Industrial Complex Compa14 nies List published by the Department of 

15 the Treasury. 

16 (2) COVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘‘covered en17 tity’’ means— 

18 (A) any Federal agency that engages in re19 search or provides funding for research, includ20 ing the National Science Foundation and the 

21 National Institutes of Health; 

22 (B) any institution of higher education, or 

23 any other private research institution, that re24 ceives any Federal financial assistance; and 


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1 (C) any private company headquartered in 

2 the United States that receives Federal finan3 cial assistance. 

4 (3) FEDERAL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—The 

5 term ‘‘Federal financial assistance’’ has the meaning 

6 given the term in section 200.1 of title 2, Code of 

7 Federal Regulations (or successor regulations). 

8 (4) MILITARY-CIVIL FUSION STRATEGY.—The 

9 term ‘‘military-civil fusion strategy’’ means the 

10 strategy of the Chinese Communist Party aiming to 

11 mobilize non-military resources and expertise for 

12 military application, including the development of 

13 technology, improvements in logistics, and other uses 

14 by the People’s Liberation Army. 

15 (b) PROHIBITIONS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—No covered entity may en17 gage with a Chinese entity of concern in any sci18 entific research or technical exchange that has a di19 rect bearing on, or the potential for dual use in, the 

20 development of technologies that the Chinese Com21 munist Party has identified as a priority of its na22 tional strategy of military-civil fusion and that are 

23 listed on the website under subsection (c)(1)(A). 

24 (2) PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS.—No covered enti25 ty described in subsection (a)(2)(C) may form a 


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1 partnership or joint venture with another such cov2 ered entity for the purpose of engaging in any sci3 entific research or technical exchange described in 

4 paragraph (1). 

5 (c) WEBSITE.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense, in 

7 consultation with the Secretary of State, the Direc8 tor of National Intelligence, the Director of the Fed9 eral Bureau of Investigation, the Secretary of En10 ergy, the Secretary of Education, the Secretary of 

11 the Treasury, and the Secretary of Commerce, shall 

12 establish, and periodically update not less than twice 

13 a year, a website that includes— 

14 (A) a list of the specific areas of scientific 

15 research or technical exchange for which the 

16 prohibitions under subsection (b) apply, which 

17 shall initially include some or all aspects of the 

18 fields of quantum computing, photonics and la19 sers, robotics, big data analytics, semiconduc20 tors, new and advanced materials, biotechnology 

21 (including synthetic biology and genetic engi22 neering), 5G and all future generations of tele23 communications, advanced nuclear technology 

24 (including nuclear power and energy storage), 


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1 aerospace technology, and artificial intelligence; 

2 and 

3 (B) to the extent practicable, a list of all 

4 Chinese entities of concern. 

5 (2) LIST OF SPECIFIC AREAS.—In developing 

6 the list under paragraph (1)(A), the Secretary of 

7 Defense shall monitor and consider the fields identi8 fied by the State Administration for Science, Tech9 nology, and Industry for the National Defense of the 

10 People’s Republic of China as defense-relevant and 

11 consider, including the more than 280 fields of study 

12 designated as of the date of enactment of this Act, 

13 and any others designated thereafter, as disciplines 

14 with national defense characteristics that have the 

15 potential to support military-civil fusion. 

16 (3) RESOURCES.—In establishing the website 

17 under paragraph (1), the Secretary of Defense may 

18 use as a model any existing resources, such as the 

19 China Defense Universities Tracker maintained by 

20 the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, subject to 

21 any other laws applicable to such resources. 

22 (d) EXCEPTION.—The prohibitions under subsection 

23 (b) shall not apply to any collaborative study or research 

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1 sion strategy, as determined by regulations issued by the 

2 Secretary of Defense. 

3 (e) ANNUAL REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

5 after the date of enactment of this Act, and Decem6 ber 31 of each year thereafter, each covered entity 

7 shall submit to the Secretary of Defense a report 

8 that discloses— 

9 (A) any research relationships the covered 

10 entity has with a Chinese entity of concern or 

11 has had during the previous year; 

12 (B) any research relationships the covered 

13 entity has considered with a Chinese entity of 

14 concern during the previous year and declined; 

15 and 

16 (C) any research relationships the covered 

17 entity has terminated with a Chinese entity of 

18 concern during the previous year because the 

19 relationship violates subsection (b) or as a re20 sult of related concerns. 

21 (2) AUDIT.—The Secretary of Defense may 

22 enter into a contract with an independent entity to 

23 conduct an audit of any report submitted under 

24 paragraph (1) to ensure compliance with the re25 quirements of such paragraph. 


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1 (f) ENFORCEMENT.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

3 provision of law, a covered entity described in sub4 paragraph (B) or (C) of subsection (a)(2) that vio5 lates a prohibition under subsection (b), or violates 

6 subsection (e), on or after the date of enactment of 

7 this Act shall be precluded from receiving any Fed8 eral financial assistance on or after the date of such 

9 violation. 

10 (2) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of Defense, 

11 in consultation with the Secretary of State, the Di12 rector of National Intelligence, the Director of the 

13 Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Secretary of 

14 Energy, the Secretary of Education, the Secretary of 

15 the Treasury, and the Secretary of Commerce, 

16 shall— 

17 (A) promulgate regulations to enforce the 

18 prohibitions under subsection (b), the auditing 

19 requirements under subsection (e), and the re20 quirement under paragraph (1); and 

21 (B) coordinate with the heads of other 

22 Federal agencies to ensure the enforcement of 

23 such prohibitions and requirements. 

Æ 


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