President Trump last month designated NASA and several other agencies as requiring national security protection based on their primary function of serving national security, including intelligence, counterintelligence and investigative work.

For NASA, the order is directly aimed at countering the Chinese Communist Party’s involvement and exploitation of the agency’s space work, said L.J. Eads, a China expert.

“Beijing has long sought to exploit U.S. universities’ partnerships with NASA in violation of the Wolf Amendment, often obfuscating affiliations and funding ties to conceal People’s Republic of China and PLA-linked participation,” said Mr. Eads, founder of Data Abyss, a data-driven defense and security firm focused on China.

The policy shift makes clear that NASA research is no longer just scientific or exploratory but requires protection under national security controls.

The 2011 Wolf Amendment to a defense appropriations law is named after former Rep. Frank Wolf, Virginia Republican. It blocked NASA and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy from any cooperation with China or Chinese-owned companies on space matters.

The measure became law as a result of cases involving technology theft by China, including Chinese theft of advanced U.S. nuclear warhead designs.

Mr. Eads said that despite the law, Beijing has repeatedly tried to exploit loopholes through U.S. university collaboration and third-party fronts.

Mr. Trump’s executive order on Aug. 13 is part of a broader policy to close gaps in research security.

The House Select Committee on the CCP last year uncovered multiple Wolf Amendment violations, including more than a thousand NASA-backed publications co-authored by Chinese institutions, many involving the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese defense contractors.

Among the compromises was work that provided China with remote-sensing technology that helped a military program known as the 863 Program.

A NASA marine fog study involved a Chinese university that has a formal agreement with China’s PLA Naval Submarine Academy and boosted PLA submarine stealth and navigation.

“In short, NASA-funded research has repeatedly been co-opted by PRC military-linked institutions, showing how Beijing exploits loopholes and weak enforcement around the Wolf Amendment,” Mr. Eads said, referring to the People’s Republic of China.

• Bill Gertz can be reached at bgertz@washingtontimes.com.