A Chinese PhD candidate and a member of faculty staff at the Norwegian University of Agder have been expelled, after it transpired their research was being used as a cover for work on advanced ballistic missiles.
The two men were kicked out of the university in January, but it is only now the reason behind the move has been revealed, with a spokesman for the university remarking: “In short, this matter is all about about a research project that we believed would aid the further development of the most advanced high-speed missiles, in this context, for the benefit of China”.
Before their expulsion, the student was ostensibly working on research into wind power, and the staff member was an Iranian-born mathematics lecturer. No criminal charges have been pressed, and TheLocal.no reports lawyers representing the men are appealing the decision.
The Chinese student insists his research had merely been misinterpreted, and that he was only weeks away from being awarded his doctorate when he was expelled. Norwegian police have challenged his version of events, replying: “We are absolutely clear that we have not have misunderstood the issue here, and we have also used external expertise from the Armed Forces Research institute.
“The reason that [The Police] has got involved in this matter is that the technology being researched here is strictly regulated by export control regulations.”
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