Foreign Policy, Economic Security, and China

July 23-29, 2025

This IVLP program welcomed international visitors from Georgia to San Antonio to explore San Antonio’s strong cybersecurity presence and biomedical innovation that supports the city’s economic security. Additionally, the visitors took a day trip to Austin to meet with foreign policy experts at the University of Texas at Austin. 

The group’s first meeting in San Antonio was with the Director of the Warrior Defense Project at St. Mary’s University School of Law. The visitors discussed national security law as it relates to safeguarding the United States against malign activities conducted by foreign governments. 

The delegates visited the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) to meet with the Chair of the Department of Political Science and Geography at UTSA. This meeting provided the visitors with policy-relevant insights into the Chinese Communist Party’s domestic and international behavior, helping them understand how internal political dynamics in China shape its foreign policy ambitions.

Representatives from The Cyber Innovation and Research Consortium (CIRC) at St. Phillip’s College met with the group to discuss current research and academic collaboration on data integrity in cloud computing, cryptographic protocols, privacy engineering, and digital forensics, with a focus on addressing challenges related to China. The visitors were also led on a campus tour of the Cybersecurity Innovation Center. 

Our visitors met with representatives from the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA)’s College of Liberal Arts to learn more about how China influences global perceptions through media and public diplomacy, with a focus on its use of soft power and strategic communication.

Lastly, the delegates visited the Texas Biomedical Research Institute to learn from researchers about the role of biomedical innovation in U.S. national and global health leadership, including efforts to protect sensitive research from Chinese interference.