MIT has severed ties with China's Huawei and ZTE

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has decided to put end to all collaborations with the Chinese firms Huawei Technologies and ZTE. The action comes in the light of the two companies allegedly violating some U.S. sanctions.

In a public letter, Maria Zuber, Vice President for research at MIT wrote: “MIT is not accepting new engagements or renewing existing ones with Huawei and ZTE or their respective subsidiaries due to federal investigations regarding violations of sanction restrictions.”

The university is now planning to reassess its ties with the companies in a comprehensive manner. Huawei was among a group of 80 technology partners that help fund MIT’s Media Lab research. Other universities like Stanford, University of California, and Berkeley have also suspended ties with Huawei as of now. MIT is also keen on scrutinizing their projects and funding that are linked to China, Russia, and Saudi Arabia.

The institution, under its review, will examine risks associated with “intellectual property, export controls, data security and access, economic competitiveness, national security, and political, civil and human rights.” Based on these reviews, MIT may change the list of countries that need to be scrutinized in-depth as the international circumstances change.