Thread by @BaldingsWorld

Professors and universities like to think of themselves as the smartest people in the room but they unwittingly reveal their ignorance by saying "I'm just a professor my research is academic." Let's unpack this thinking how they are targeted for the EXACT reason they think 1/n

Acts as a shield. In other words, they are saying out loud, we have no idea what we are talking about. First, let's put to rest the idea that professors are not targeted. I won't detail how I know that but I do. It can be because of the university they work at or the type 2/n

of research or because of material you may have access to. There are a variety of reasons why. Second, China keeps very detailed records of professors, research, think tankers, with lots of scoring and information they want to obtain. In other words, China generates targets 3/n

Third, lots of this information is unclassified or quasi public information that professors or tankies may have access to. Put another way, this information may be semi-public and they need only a puzzle piece not necessarily for you to hand them the machine or whatever 4/n

Fourth, this is what is called "grey zone" warfare where they create shell companies in Silicon Valley, send in PLA to work for companies, or give you a government handler or something to slowly extract the information. We know China works through a variety of methods 5/n

So when a professor says "I don't have access to classified material" or "why would they target me I'm just a professor?" they think this is a defense when it is actually revealing their ignorance about how China operates and the methods being used against them. 6/n

Now let's assume China wants information. Let's take two oversimplified examples. They can a) try and hack into classified government computers to get the info they need or b) get professors to turn over lots of their research material then build it themselves. 7/n

Professors and think tankers are soft targets and weak security link targets. It's a low cost low risk method for Chinese security and intelligence and best of all the target is excited and eager to work with you because they are idiots. So when a professor says 8/n

"Why would China target me?" They're not using a defense, they are revealing their ignorance. That's exactly why China would target you. Because for a summer trip you'll give them everything and you don't understand basic security. That's why.