FBI Director Noted Texas A&M’s Good Work In Guarding Against Chinese Espionage

The director of the FBI, Christopher Wray, praised Texas A&M University on Tuesday for working effectively with the bureau to protect sensitive information and intellectual property from Chinese spies.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said in a Senate Judiciary hearing that he has serious worries about universities protecting vital information that could be of national interest.

“One concern that I have, particularly in the academic sector, is their leaders tend to be – in some instances – less aware of the scope of the threat and less sophisticated and savvy than some, in say, the Fortune 100 world in terms of means of defending against espionage and theft of intellectual property,” the senator said.

Wray responded by saying that he shared the concerns of Cruz, and he has seen a flow of information from U.S. universities, particularly at the graduate level, directly back to China for “the advancement of its various strategic plans” and for the communist country’s goal of “economic dominance over us.”

Wray said that U.S. universities need to be more aware of who has access to sensitive information, and university officials should be setting up safeguards to prevent the outflow of intellectual property and other secrets.

Just before Cruz ended his questioning of Wray, the director called out Texas A&M as an example of an institution of higher education that understands the dangers.

Wray said the FBI has done “some very good work with Texas A&M recently, to try to raise awareness in the university space.”