The Chicago-based MacArthur Foundation has announced a series of grants to Chinese scientific and policy research institutions in a bid to draw China closer into global dialogue and cooperation on arms control, nuclear non-proliferation and anti-terrorism.

Seven grants totaling more than USD 1 million have gone to institutes at top universities and to close-to-government think-tanks such as the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association and the China Foundation for International and Strategic Studies. The funds will support academic courses, seminars, public lectures, international exchange visits and research centring on political and technical aspects of biological and nuclear arms control, including international trafficking of nuclear components and transnational terrorist networks.

International Peace and Security is a major area of MacArthur Foundation grantmaking, intended “to reduce the dangers posed by weapons of mass destruction,” according to a press release. Foundation President, Jonathan Fanton, is quoted as saying that, now that China is “a leading economic, military and political player . . . it is critical to expand the pool of scientists and technical specialists in China with the knowledge and skills to provide sound advice to policymakers on pressing international security issues.”

During the 1990s, the Foundation supported conservation and community development efforts in the Gaoligongshan area of Yunnan Province. It no longer has active China grants in that area, but has since begun making grants to Chinese institutions under its International Peace and Security programme. Last year, grants for research and training in this field were made to Tsinghua University and the Institute Applied Physics and Computational Mathematics.

The John. D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation was established in 1978 by a couple who had made a fortune in insurance and real estate. It now has net assets of nearly USD 5 billion, and each year makes grants worth approximately USD 200 million.

Report by Nick Young, December 1 2005