Top-tier academic journals such as Nature, Science, the New England Journal of Medicine, and the Lancet have published reams of research funded by the Chinese Communist Party in recent years, a Washington Examiner review found. The Washington Examiner has the story.

This Chinese-funded research has proven useful to critics of President Donald Trump, some of whom cited it extensively in a recent, well-publicized critique of his Department of Energy. The critique, alongside the favorable media coverage it attracted, failed to disclose its use of CCP-funded research or the fact that the Chinese government is known to fund research that aligns with its economic and security interests.

In July, the DOE released a report that concluded man-made climate change is occurring but qualified the finding by arguing that the negative effects of global warming are often overstated by the academic mainstream and, even if they weren’t, tweaks to American policy would have only a marginal influence on world temperatures.

The report sparked outrage from the scientific community.

On Tuesday, 85 scientists released a 459-page rebuttal to the DOE report, highlighting a large body of scientific literature pointing to how climate change can exacerbate droughts, floods, crop failures, and other disasters.

One author called the DOE report a “mockery of science.”

The rebuttal, however, has a potential problem of its own.

A Washington Examiner review of the document’s references found nearly four dozen unique citations of research funded by one or more arms of the CCP.

Many papers cited in the rebuttal also listed Chinese government employees as authors.

None of this was disclosed in the document itself.

Additionally, large media outlets, including the New York Times, CNN, Reuters, National Public Radio, and Time Magazine, provided the document with positive coverage without mentioning the CCP-funded research it utilized.

Among the Chinese government entities that funded research cited in the rebuttal were various arms of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the China Scholarship Council, the National Basic Research Program of China, and the National Key Research and Development Program of China.

All five entities are either part of the Chinese government or directly overseen by it. 

The prevalence of Chinese-funded research in the anti-Trump climate document and in broader scientific literature indicates how widespread the CCP’s influence over academia has grown and serves as another example of how Western institutions allow their reputations to be used for the CCP’s benefit. 

“The New England Journal of Medicine applies the same rigorous and independent peer-review process to all submitted research, regardless of funding source or country of origin,” a spokeswoman for the publication said when reached by the Washington Examiner.

“Editorial decisions are based solely on the quality and integrity of the science.”

The Chinese government runs an array of grantmaking programs to fund and promote research aligned with its national interests.

One major priority of the CCP in this realm is to produce scientific papers on the dangers of climate change and the utility of alternative forms of energy.

China’s focus on global warming and green energy, many observers argue, isn’t borne out of a genuine passion for ecology.

Read the full story here.