Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Eight years ago, the U.S. administration blacklisted Beijing's National University of Defense Technology, which reports directly to the Beijing-based Communist Party's central military commission on the basis that it posed a national security threat. Eight years later and three administrations later, the NUDT remains blacklisted by the United States.
Incredibly, the minister in the last hour was oblivious to that blacklisting on the part of the United States, despite the fact that Canadian universities are collaborating with the NUDT. Granting councils, which fall under his purview, have provided funding out of taxpayers' dollars to projects involved in the NUDT to the benefit of Beijing.
Can the officials confirm that the minister has the power to issue a ministerial directive to block federal funding to projects involving Beijing's NUDT? Does the ministry have that power?