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Top House Republicans Announce Probe into Chinese Efforts to Infiltrate U.S. Colleges

Today, Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), Republican Leader of the Committee on Education and Labor, along with top Republicans from six House committees, sent a letter to Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos asking for information about the Chinese Communist Party's investment in American colleges and universities to further its strategic and propaganda goals.

In the letter, the Members wrote: "For some time, we have been concerned about the potential for the Chinese government to use its strategic investments to turn American college campuses into indoctrination platforms for American students. For example, a 2018 Hoover Institution report notes the presence of some 110 'Confucius Institutes' on college campuses as well as over 500 'Confucius Classrooms' in secondary schools. While the stated mission of such institutes and classrooms is to teach Chinese language and culture, the report notes, 'faculty and other watchdogs have warned that they may present risks to intellectual freedom by using American universities as vehicles through which to advance Chinese Communist Party propaganda.'"

On the letter, Republican Leader Virginia Foxx said: "China's lack of transparency and accountability for the global spread of the novel coronavirus has devastated communities, businesses, and schools across the world, including our institutions of higher education. Unsurprisingly, China is now attempting to suppress academic research into the origins of the pandemic. This is unacceptable. These strategic and disreputable acts from the Chinese Communist Party have proven to be commonplace and it is time for institutions of higher education to acknowledge how much money they accept from foreign actors. We must work together to protect our national interests by significantly reducing our universities' reliance on investments from adversarial foreign entities."

On the letter, Republican Leader Jim Jordan said: "We  cannot allow a dangerous communist regime to buy access to our institutions of higher education, plain and simple. The Chinese Communist Party's coverup of the early outbreak of the coronavirus immeasurably worsened this disease's impact on the United States and the world. We owe it to the American people to hold China accountable and to prevent them from doing further harm to our country."

The following committee leaders signed onto the letter to Secretary DeVos:

  • Rep. Virginia Foxx, Republican Leader of the House Committee on Education and Labor
  • Rep. Jim Jordan, Republican Leader of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee
  • Rep. Mac Thornberry, Republican Leader of the House Armed Services Committee
  • Rep. Mike Rogers, Republican Leader of the House Committee on Homeland Security
  • Rep. Frank Lucas, Republican Leader of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
  • Rep. Devin Nunes, Republican Leader of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
  • Rep. Michael McCaul, Republican Leader of the House Foreign Affairs Committee 

To read the full letter, click here.

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