Pentagon orders audit of 30 universities’ partnerships with foreign institutions

The U.S. Department of Defense has ordered 30 U.S. universities — including potentially Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology — to audit their partnerships with mostly Chinese universities and military training institutions as the Trump administration scrutinizes the country’s growing global influence. If the schools don’t complete a review and terminate any arrangements deemed problematic within the next two weeks, they face losing funding. The goal is to protect taxpayer-funded research from theft and exploitation, the Pentagon said Monday. “The Department of War has zero tolerance for academic partnerships that compromise our national security,” Emil Michael, the Pentagon’s…