Science and Research committee  No, not particularly, so I do apologize. It's not specifically my area. Could you perhaps rephrase that? Otherwise, I will cede my time to others if they want to comment.

Science and Research committee  I'm sorry. I don't have any thoughts on this one, but I'd be happy to elaborate in my written testimony.

Science and Research committee  I will.

Science and Research committee  It's not just one of the problems; I think it starts at home. What the researchers actually cite is that they have quick access to money, to funding, while in the European Union they have to apply constantly for grants, with a very uncertain ending as to whether or not they will get the grant.

Science and Research committee  It's a very broad question. I will try to tackle it in the few minutes that I have. Broadly, once again, we have to call a spade a spade. Don't just hide it behind very vague statements, but be more open about what is actually problematic in Chinese influence or interference. Here I am alluding a little bit towards what you mentioned, and that's the interference in our electoral systems.

Science and Research committee  I think it's more or less leaning in the same direction. Though the approaches may vary, they may be coming back to this recommendation of the European Commission. It would probably have been more powerful if it were a different form of legislation. It is actually moving in the same areas, and also outlining the same areas that need to be tackled, which are semiconductors, artificial intelligence, quantum, biotech and all the others.

Science and Research committee  I'm not sure whether my response would be adequate, because I'm not that familiar with the Australian system. However, I don't think that it's probably feasible because of the sheer size of the co-operation, especially when it comes to some of the countries that are technologically advanced in those, let's say, 15 critical areas.

Science and Research committee  That's my favourite question. Thank you very much. I can spend hours on that. Just very briefly, while China entered central and eastern Europe with the 16+1 initiative in 2012, over the period of the past 10 or 11 years we have seen China be much more skilful, I would say, in influencing the response of society.

Science and Research committee  I just want to make sure that I understand the question. Are you asking me whether the universities are taking up some measures against the influence? Yes, you are. It varies in different countries. In my region, central and eastern Europe, I would say that the Czech Republic is a front-runner in this effort, but it started only with a huge scandal that we had with one of the oldest and most prestigious universities.

Science and Research committee  No, not at all. I didn't mean it the way it probably came out. The problem here is that if you have actor-agnostic recommendations, most of the universities simply do not comprehend them. You are talking about some countries, some risks and some non-democratic actors, and the initial response from universities and research centres is, “Who and what should we safeguard, exactly?”

Science and Research committee  Certainly. The system is relatively new—it was set up a couple of months ago—so it's still gathering the primary data. However, there is obviously a learning pattern, so the first questions that came from scholars and also from universities and higher education institutions were kind of basic questions.

Science and Research committee  I represent the Association for International Affairs, a leading think tank from the Czech Republic. Our focus lies in scrutinizing the PRC’s activities within central and eastern Europe, including in the realms of science, technology and innovation, or STI. My purpose here today is to clarify the stance on trusted research in Europe and to outline some measures undertaken by the EU and several of its member states to enhance their knowledge security.