MP claims universities are ‘overdependent’ on Chinese money

Scotland is “overdependent” on Chinese money to fund its universities, according to a Scottish National Party (SNP) member of parliament who said he had been subject to Communist Party-linked hacking attempts, writes Hamish Morrison for The National.

Stewart McDonald urged the Scottish government to become “alive” to the ways in which state institutions could be “exploited” by the Chinese state. Speaking at a press conference in London on Monday 25 March, the SNP MP appeared alongside fellow China hawks, Iain Duncan Smith and Tim Loughton.

It comes after they were named by The Sunday Times as victims of cyber attacks by Chinese state actors. The three were said to have been briefed by parliament’s director of security, Alison Giles, prior to Monday’s press conference – but would not get into details of the alleged attacks.
Full report on The National site