UNC cuts Fudan study-abroad program after Chinese university flagged as national security risk

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ended a study-abroad program with China’s Fudan University after its internal screening system flagged the institution’s placement on a federal list of foreign entities that pose national security risks. 

 UNC canceled the program Aug. 12 “out of an abundance of caution,” Chancellor Lee Roberts wrote in an Aug. 26 letter to Assistant Secretary of War for Science and Technology Joseph S. Jewell. The Department of War’s Section 1286 list identifies foreign institutions that the federal government says engage in activities threatening U.S. national security interests. 

Fudan appears on the current list. The department states that the list is designed to prevent unwanted foreign influence over taxpayer-funded research and protect American research from foreign exploitation. Beginning in fiscal year 2026, federal funds cannot support fundamental research involving institutions on the list.

Campus Reform | UNC cuts Fudan study-abroad program after Chinese university flagged as national security risk