The school system in charge of the top-ranked U.S. public high school is defending the school’s
receipt of hundreds of thousands of dollars
from groups linked to
China’s military
and its United Front, calling such foreign funding “not unusual.”
Thomas Jefferson
High School for Science and Technology, or TJHSST, part of
Fairfax
County
Public Schools in Virginia,
partnered with Tsinghua University High School, or TUHS, to assist it and China generally
with adopting the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM, and advanced lab research TJHSST is famous for. TUHS is closely tied to Tsinghua University,
considered
by the Pentagon to be a Chinese military university.
“Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology is a world-renowned academic institution known for its innovative STEM education programming,” Julie Moult, the media relations manager for FCPS, told the Washington Examiner on Thursday. “It is not unusual for elite public schools, colleges, and universities in the U.S. to benefit from donations and grants from various sources, including international sources.”
TOP US HIGH SCHOOL TEAMED UP WITH CHINESE MILITARY-AFFILIATED ORGANIZATION
Sen.
Marco Rubio
(R-FL) and other Republicans on Capitol Hill have pushed for U.S. colleges and universities to
sever their financial ties and partnership agreements
with Chinese military-affiliated schools.
The nonprofit organization Parents Defending Education
helped unearth
the Chinese funding for TJHSST and has
asked Virginia’s governor and attorney general to investigate
.
The Thomas Jefferson Partnership Fund, or TJPF,
received hundreds of thousands of dollars from Tsinghua University
as part of its agreement with TUHS. The TJPF also received hundreds of thousands of dollars from Ameson Education and Cultural Exchange Foundation, as well as the Chinese company Shirble, which were both led by men tied to China’s United Front Work Department, which manages
Chinese government foreign influence campaigns
.
The FCPS spokesperson also sought to distance the TJ fund from TJ high school itself, arguing Thursday that “the TJ Partnership Fund is an independent nonprofit entity.” The TJ fund insists on its website that it is “not affiliated directly with” TJ high school. The TJPF has not responded to a request for comment.
The TJPF
exists
to support the Virginia high school, and the fund’s
board of directors
includes
TJ’s principal, assistant principal, faculty representatives, and the head of TJ’s parent-teacher association. TJ principal Dr. Ann Bonitatibus, TJ assistant principal Volita Russell, and TJ faculty members Shane Torbert and Shawn Stickler are currently listed as “representatives” to the TJ fund.
The TJ fund also
said it is
co-located
at the high school’s campus in Fairfax, Virginia.
The Chinese state-run China Daily
touted
the agreement between TJHSST and TUHS in April 2014, noting it was signed between the school principals during a ceremony at China’s Embassy in Washington.
The Virginia school
said
in November 2014 that TJHSST “will be partnering with” TUHS as the fund announced, “Tsinghua University made a $300,000 donation.” The Chinese university was dubbed a “Jefferson Founding Partner.” The TJ fund said, “Tsinghua University is interested in introducing a specialized STEM track in its network of high schools, including TUHS, and is hoping eventually to establish a Tsinghua International STEM High School in Beijing.”
TUHS
said
it is “attached” to Tsinghua University and is “directly under the Ministry of Education.” TUHS’s principal
noted
the school is “under the guidance” of the Chinese Communist Party, and leaders of the TUHS include CCP officials. TUHS International’s advisory board also
includes
Mao Daqing, part of the “United Front Work Department of CCP Central Committee.”
Both the TJ fund and the Chinese military-linked high school have written repeatedly about visits TJ faculty made to TUHS and that TUHS and Tsinghua University faculty made to the Virginia school. The TJ fund
said
in March 2015 that “Tsinghua Faculty learns the TJ way.” TUHS
said
it “cooperated” with TJHSST, “whose high-end laboratory systems were introduced to TUHS.”
Ameson was also
named
among the “Jefferson Founding Partners & International Partners” in 2015 for a donation of $250,000 or above and in 2016 for a
similar donation
. Its
tax records show
its “founder and chairman” was Sean Wuhua Zhang.
Zhang is
listed
as a “deputy director of the Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan Overseas Chinese Committee of the Jiangsu Provincial Political Consultative Conference.”
The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission
said
in 2018 the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference is “under the leadership of the CCP” and is “the highest-ranking entity overseeing the United Front system.”
The Chinese government-linked Ambright Education Group helped set up the “Thomas Schools of China” — modeled off of TJHSST. Ambright also counts Zhang as a “dean.”
Ambright said the “Thomas Schools of China” came about through “collaboration” with TJHSST, and its 2019 recruitment flyer said it was “establishing Thomas Schools of China” in Shanghai, Hefei, Jinan, and Nanjing by incorporating “advanced school operations” from TJHSST.
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China’s Thomas Schools
emphasize
they are “modeled after the curriculum” of TJHSST and aim to “support the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.” Its steering committee includes former Chinese government officials.
Shirble, seemingly just a Chinese department store, had as its
chairman
Yang Xiangbo, a “member” of multiple sessions of the “National Committee” of the United Front’s “Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.” The TJ fund said Shirble
donated
at least $500,000 in fiscal 2018.
