(Bloomberg) -- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government will stop funding projects affiliated with universities, institutes or labs connected to foreign military, national defense or state security entities.

Tuesday’s announcement seeks to close the loop on so-called sensitive research areas that pose risks to national security, according to a government statement.

The Globe and Mail reported last month that 50 Canadian universities had extensive research collaborations with the Chinese military since 2005. The projects with China’s National University of Defence Technology included areas such as quantum cryptography, photonics and space science, the newspaper said. 

“This new action is one of many significant steps the government of Canada is taking to protect our country, our institutions and our intellectual property,” the government said, adding that guidelines were introduced for due diligence and risks to research security.

Like many of its allies including the US, Canada has been taking a tougher stance against China in recent months. Late last year, the country announced rules that made it harder for foreign state-owned enterprises to pursue takeovers or invest in the mining industry, targeting many Chinese firms.

The $439,000 Missiles the US Is Using to Shoot Down Mystery UFOs

The announcement came three days after an unidentified object was shot down by a US plane in Canada’s far north, acting on authorization from Trudeau. That’s the fourth airborne object shot down in North American airspace over the past week, starting with a large balloon that US officials have said was a surveillance craft sent by China. The Biden administration suspects the other unidentified objects served commercial purposes and weren’t used for spying. 

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