Nikkei led with a GOJ plan to prevent the outflow of dual-use technology from the nation’s academic institutions by mandating university labs submit statements on their financial situations when they receive central government grants and subsidies. The labs will need to disclose whether their R&D activities are financed by foreign entities. As economic security is expected to be a key component of the nation’s diplomacy from now on, the daily said the GOJ is concerned about the potential outflow of advanced technology to China since many scholars and students from there are attending at top Japanese universities to learn about big data and artificial intelligence. While projecting that university labs may also be required to disclose information on their foreign researchers, such as their nationalities and academic background, the article wrote that some Japanese academics have already voiced apprehension that such requirements may hinder academic freedom and hamper their own efforts to raise research funds from the private sector.

Yomiuri front-paged a similar story, adding that as the GOJ is wary of “academic espionage” involving Chinese scholars, students, and money, it plans to tap U.S. knowhow in combating Chinese attempts to steal technology.