After years of inaction by President Joe Biden‘s administration, the Chinese Communist Party made significant advancements to influence the integrity of American higher education. Under new leadership, however, those days are over.
As stated by America First Policy Institute, Biden allowed China to use donations as a bargaining tool to steal America’s intellectual property, train and recruit operatives for the CCP, and radicalize society’s next generation.
HOW IS CHINA INFLUENCING AMERICAN HIGHER EDUCATION
However, President Donald Trump‘s second administration has focused on countering Chinese advancements.
Since Trump’s inauguration, the Congressional Committee on Education and the Workforce and the newly created Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party have put Chinese influence over our higher education system in their crosshairs.
“The Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party and the House Committee on Education and the Workforce’s investigations revealed how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) have exploited U.S. universities to fuel its military and technological rise.”
Last fall, the committees released reports that exposed how researchers, many of whom were funded by American tax dollars through the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, and the National Science Foundation, aided the CCP in its own nuclear programs, artificial intelligence campaigns, and quantum computing initiatives.
More importantly, the report exposed the dangers of joint American and Chinese institutes, which facilitated the transfer of technology and posed national security risks. The findings from the committees and new congressional pressure have led major American universities, such as the University of Michigan, to dissolve their ties with the CCP, which is a step in the right direction, as reported by Campus Reform.
Additionally, the Trump administration has taken significant steps to enforce the foreign contract and gift requirements in current law under section 117 of the Higher Education Act, which Biden refused to do.
Congressional members loyal to Trump, such as Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX), introduced the DHS Restrictions on Confucius Institutes Act, prohibiting taxpayer funds from being administered to the remaining joint institutions. The bill passed the House and is now headed to the Senate.
Others, such as Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), introduced the DHS Restrictions on Confucius Institutes and Chinese Entities of Concern Act, which would remove Chinese spies in American higher education and protect tax dollars from falling in the wrong hands.
“We’ve seen the CCP use Confucius Institutes and other programs to infiltrate universities and colleges, collect valuable and sensitive information, spread propaganda, and recruit for its Military-Civil Fusion,” Scott wrote.
WATCH: CARDONA SAYS HE DOESN’T KNOW ABOUT CCP EFFORTS TO INFLUENCE HIGHER EDUCATION
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY) introduced a similar bill, the Protecting American Research and Talent Act, which would prohibit taxpayer dollars from being awarded as research grants to colleges with ties to CCP-linked institutions.
While these efforts are only the first to protect America’s education from the CCP, it is clear that we are now under a government that places America’s security, property, intelligence, and population first in the face of our enemies.
