SAFEA founded in 1956[3] and abolished in March 2018, when its functions were absorbed by the
Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST). The SAFEA name was retained to interact with foreign parties.[1] The name was transferred to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security in March 2023.[4]
Recruitment
The fields targeted for foreign recruitment included the economy, technology, management, education, engineering, science, culture, and healthcare. Foreigners usually worked in foreign invested joint-ventures, private industry, state-owned enterprises and public construction projects.[5]
According to the 1999
Cox Report, SAFEA's CAIEP is "one of several organizations set up by the PRC for illicit
technology transfer through contacts with Western scientists and engineers."[15] In March 2022, a federal jury convicted a man of fraudulently obtaining U.S. visas for CAIEP employees.[16]
A 2019 report by the
United States Senate Homeland Security Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations stated that SAFEA's contracts with foreign experts "include provisions that violate U.S. standards of research integrity, place TTP members in compromising legal and ethical positions, and undermine fundamental U.S. scientific norms of transparency, reciprocity, and integrity."[17]
SAFEA has been the subject of
espionage investigations. In 2010,
Noshir Gowadia was convicted for selling classified information, primarily regarding the
Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit, to a SAFEA official.[18] SAFEA has been reported to operate nominally private
front organizations such as Virginia-based Triway Enterprises.[10]
^HomeArchived 2009-01-19 at the
Wayback Machine. State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs. Retrieved on July 12, 2017. "邮编:100873 地址:北京中关村南大街一号5号楼 "