‘Harvard can’t hide. Garber must provide transparency,’ Rep. Elise Stefanik says
A congressional investigation has uncovered new ties between Harvard University and the Chinese Communist Party, including the school’s years-long role in training rising CCP elites, three top Republicans revealed Wednesday.
Reps. John Moolenaar (Mich.), Tim Walberg (Mich.), and Elise Stefanik (N.Y.)—who chair the Select Committee on the CCP, the Committee on Education and Workforce, and House Republican Leadership, respectively—told Harvard president Alan Garber in a letter obtained by the Washington Free Beacon that whistleblowers detailed the Ivy League university’s partnerships with CCP entities, which have been in place for at least a decade.
One such partnership is a collaboration between the Harvard Kennedy School and the Chinese Executive Leadership Academy Pudong. That institution is controlled by the Central Organization Department, one of the most powerful bodies within the CCP. It oversees the “Xi Jinping Thought” training program for party elites and controls placement in key CCP leadership roles.
The letter also notes that a high-ranking member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in 2016 said that some Chinese “party and government cadres” are sent to the Harvard Kennedy School as part of the Organization Department’s “education and training.”
Moolenaar said the discoveries raise “serious concerns.”
“Harvard’s formal partnership with the Chinese Communist Party-controlled school to train their future leaders raises serious concerns about the CCP’s influence in American institutions,” he told the Free Beacon. “Chairman Tim Walberg, Chairwoman Elise Stefanik, and I are committed to uncovering the full extent of these relationships to ensure transparency and protect our national interests.”
The revelation comes as Harvard weighs spending up to $500 million to settle its ongoing dispute with the White House over allegations of campus anti-Semitism and DEI initiatives. But a potential settlement wouldn’t help Harvard overcome ongoing congressional investigations.
In April, a Free Beacon report exposed Harvard’s training of members of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, a U.S.-sanctioned paramilitary group implicated in the CCP’s genocide of Uyghur Muslims. That prompted GOP leaders to threaten Harvard’s tax-exempt status, citing its partnerships with entities involved in human rights abuses and potential violations of U.S. sanctions.
Wednesday’s letter demands that Harvard provide all documents related to engagement with the Chinese government or CCP-controlled entities, as well as a detailed list of all monetary or non-monetary benefits received from such entities since Jan. 1, 2015. Harvard has until Aug. 7 to respond.
“Harvard can’t hide. Garber must provide transparency,” Stefanik told the Free Beacon.
The university did not respond to a request for comment on the latest investigation.
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