Rep. John Moolenaar (R-MI), Chairman of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, raised serious national security concerns about Chinese influence in American universities during an interview Friday on Fox Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo’s Wall Street. He warned that U.S. academic institutions are vulnerable to infiltration and intellectual property theft by Chinese nationals tied to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Moolenaar pointed out that American universities lack effective systems to vet foreign students, especially those arriving on scholarships affiliated with the CCP. He emphasized that, under Chinese law, Chinese nationals are obligated to report information back to the Communist Party, regardless of where they are in the world. This obligation creates opportunities for surveillance, theft of sensitive research, and intimidation of dissidents on U.S. soil.
The Michigan congressman stated, “The universities don’t have a good way to vet their students…there’s technology theft, there’s surveillance, there’s all sorts of intimidation.” He added that some institutions have unknowingly supported projects aligned with CCP interests, even using research funding from the Department of Defense and Department of Energy.
Moolenaar said the federal government must “partner with our universities to prevent these kinds of activities.” He endorsed former Rep. Mike Gallagher’s (R-WI) warnings about the risks of CCP infiltration, highlighting the urgency of legislative and institutional reforms to safeguard America’s academic and research infrastructure.
His comments come amid growing scrutiny of China’s influence across multiple sectors of American society, particularly in technology, education, and national defense. The call for stronger vetting and oversight echoes bipartisan concerns about the CCP’s global espionage operations.
