State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs

{{Short description|Government agency in the People's Republic of China}}{{Politics of China |expanded = Foreign }}

File:Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security headquarters (20240409171018).jpg in 2024]]

The State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs (SAFEA; {{zh |s = 国家外国专家局 |p = Guójiā Wàiguó Zhuānjiā Jú }}) is an external name used by China's Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security. SAFEA was previously its own agency of the government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) that operated under the State Council and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security. It was responsible for recruiting foreign experts outside of mainland China - including Taiwan and the special administrative regions - for work in the PRC, and managing the training of Chinese nationals outside of the PRC.{{Cite web|date=20 July 2018|title=2017 Budget of the Former State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs|url=https://cset.georgetown.edu/research/2017-budget-of-the-former-state-administration-of-foreign-experts-affairs/|access-date=2 December 2020|website=Ministry of Science and Technology|translator=Etcetera Language Group, Inc.|archive-date=28 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210128013202/https://cset.georgetown.edu/research/2017-budget-of-the-former-state-administration-of-foreign-experts-affairs/|url-status=live}} It was headquartered in Zhongguancun, Haidian District, Beijing.[http://www.safea.gov.cn/ Home] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090119121516/http://www.safea.gov.cn/ |date=2009-01-19 }}. State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs. Retrieved on July 12, 2017. "邮编：100873 地址：北京中关村南大街一号5号楼 "

History

SAFEA founded in 1956{{Cite web|date=23 March 2018|title=China's science ministry gets power to attract more foreign scientists|url=https://www.natureindex.com/news-blog/chinas-science-ministry-gets-power-to-attract-more-foreign-scientists|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200721210318/https://www.natureindex.com/news-blog/chinas-science-ministry-gets-power-to-attract-more-foreign-scientists|archive-date=2020-07-21|access-date=2020-08-09|website=www.natureindex.com}} and abolished in March 2018, when its functions were absorbed by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) as part of the deepening the reform of the Party and state institutions. The SAFEA name was retained to interact with foreign parties. The name was transferred to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security in March 2023 as part of the plan on reforming Party and state institutions.{{Cite news |last=Zhang |first=Tianqi |date=9 March 2023 |title=Blog: Why China Is Restructuring Its Science and Tech Ministry |work=Caixin |url=https://www.caixinglobal.com/2023-03-09/blog-why-china-is-restructuring-its-science-and-tech-ministry-102006531.html |access-date=23 September 2023}}

Recruitment

The fields targeted for foreign recruitment included the economy, technology, management, education, engineering, science, culture, and healthcare. Foreigners usually worked in foreign invested joint-ventures, private industry, state-owned enterprises and public construction projects.{{cite web |url=http://www.asianlii.org/cn/legis/cen/laws/notootsaofeaatcdotmofaotuaaotpffewic1936/ |title=Notice Of The Office Of The State Administration Of Foreign Experts Affairs And The Consular Department Of The Ministry Of Foreign Affairs On The Use And Administration Of The Permit For Foreign Experts Working In China |publisher=Asianlii.org |access-date=2019-11-26 |archive-date=2016-03-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160328032726/http://asianlii.org/cn/legis/cen/laws/notootsaofeaatcdotmofaotuaaotpffewic1936/ |url-status=live }}

Programs and organizations supervised

Thousand Talents Plan (TTP){{Cite journal|last=Hvistendahl|first=Mara|date=2014-10-24|title=Show me the money|journal=Science|language=en|volume=346|issue=6208|pages=411–415|doi=10.1126/science.346.6208.411|pmid=25342782|bibcode=2014Sci...346..411H|issn=0036-8075|doi-access=free}}
China International Talent Exchange Foundation (CITEF){{Cite news|title=China International Talent Exchange Foundation|work=China Daily|url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/m/safea/2017-06/02/content_29589804.htm|url-status=live|access-date=August 9, 2020|archive-date=November 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191119224008/http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/m/safea/2017-06/02/content_29589804.htm}}{{Cite web|last1=Hannas|first1=Wm. C.|last2=Chang|first2=Huey-meei|date=2019-09-25|title=China's Access to Foreign AI Technology|url=https://cset.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/CSET_China_Access_To_Foreign_AI_Technology.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731222558/https://cset.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/CSET_China_Access_To_Foreign_AI_Technology.pdf|archive-date=2020-07-31|access-date=2020-08-09|website=Center for Security and Emerging Technology|pages=11|language=en-US}}
China Association for International Exchange of Personnel (CAIEP){{Cite web|date=2019-09-16|title=Chinese Government Employee Charged in Manhattan Federal Court with Participating in Conspiracy to Fraudulently Obtain U.S. Visas|url=https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1202996/download|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191015021745/https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1202996/download|archive-date=2019-10-15|access-date=2020-08-09|website=U.S. Department of Justice|language=en}}{{Cite book |last1=Hannas |first1=William C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sWcolDneRrMC |title=Chinese Industrial Espionage: Technology Acquisition and Military Modernisation |last2=Mulvenon |first2=James |last3=Puglisi |first3=Anna B. |date=2013-06-14 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-95261-7 |pages=95–110 |language=en |oclc=1081421916 |author-link3=Anna B. Puglisi}}
China Services International
Conference on International Exchange of Professionals

Partnerships

SAFEA has had partnerships with universities and professional bodies in several countries, including:

University of Maryland, College Park{{Cite web|last=Legerwood|first=Racqueal|date=2020-01-27|title=As US Universities Close Confucius Institutes, What's Next?|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/01/27/us-universities-close-confucius-institutes-whats-next|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200817165508/https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/01/27/us-universities-close-confucius-institutes-whats-next|archive-date=2020-08-17|access-date=2020-08-09|website=Human Rights Watch|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=Program Areas & Expertise {{!}} Global Maryland, University of Maryland|url=https://globalmaryland.umd.edu/offices/china/program-areas-expertise|access-date=2020-08-09|website=globalmaryland.umd.edu|archive-date=2019-12-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221052351/http://globalmaryland.umd.edu/offices/china/program-areas-expertise|url-status=live}}
University of Wisconsin–Madison{{Cite web|title=State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs|url=https://projects.international.wisc.edu/what-we-do/partnerships/safea-china/|access-date=2020-08-09|website=International Projects Office|language=en-US|archive-date=2020-08-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200820164241/https://projects.international.wisc.edu/what-we-do/partnerships/safea-china/|url-status=live}}
Project Management Institute{{Cite web|date=June 27, 2018|title=PMI Extends Cooperation Agreement with SAFEA for Five Years|url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pmi-extends-cooperation-agreement-with-safea-for-five-years-300673069.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180627170730/https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pmi-extends-cooperation-agreement-with-safea-for-five-years-300673069.html|archive-date=2018-06-27|access-date=2020-08-09|website=www.prnewswire.com|language=en}}

Reaction

According to the 1999 Cox Report, SAFEA's CAIEP is "one of several organizations set up by the PRC for illicit technology transfer through contacts with Western scientists and engineers."{{Cite book|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRPT-105hrpt851/pdf/GPO-CRPT-105hrpt851.pdf|title=U. S. National Security and Military/Commercial Concerns with the People's Republic of China|date=August 1999|isbn=978-0-7881-8207-5|pages=38|publisher=DIANE |language=en|access-date=2020-10-04|archive-date=2020-10-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201007183011/https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRPT-105hrpt851/pdf/GPO-CRPT-105hrpt851.pdf|url-status=live}} In March 2022, a federal jury convicted a man of fraudulently obtaining U.S. visas for CAIEP employees.{{Cite web |date=2022-03-23 |title=Chinese Government Employee Convicted of Participating in Conspiracy to Defraud the United States and Fraudulently Obtain U.S. Visas |url=https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/chinese-government-employee-convicted-participating-conspiracy-defraud-united-states-and |access-date=2022-03-24 |website=U.S. Department of Justice |language=en |archive-date=2022-03-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220324020743/https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/chinese-government-employee-convicted-participating-conspiracy-defraud-united-states-and |url-status=live }}

A 2019 report by the United States Senate Homeland Security Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations stated that SAFEA's contracts with foreign experts "include provisions that violate U.S. standards of research integrity, place TTP members in compromising legal and ethical positions, and undermine fundamental U.S. scientific norms of transparency, reciprocity, and integrity."{{Cite journal|date=2019-11-18|title=Threats to the U.S. Research Enterprise: China's Talent Recruitment Plans|url=https://www.hsdl.org/?abstract&did=831878|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200820164309/https://www.hsdl.org/?abstract=&did=831878|archive-date=2020-08-20|access-date=2020-08-09|website=Homeland Security Digital Library|publisher=United States Senate Homeland Security Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations|pages=27|language=en}}

SAFEA has been the subject of espionage investigations. In 2010, Noshir Gowadia was convicted for selling classified information, primarily regarding the Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit, to a SAFEA official.{{Cite web |last=Joske |first=Alex |author-link=Alex Joske |date=August 20, 2020 |title=Hunting the Phoenix: The Chinese Communist Party's global search for technology and talent |url=https://www.aspi.org.au/report/hunting-phoenix |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200820144216/https://www.aspi.org.au/report/hunting-phoenix |archive-date=2020-08-20 |access-date=2020-08-20 |website=Australian Strategic Policy Institute |language=en}} SAFEA has been reported to operate nominally private front organizations such as Virginia-based Triway Enterprises.