The Select Committee on China and the House Education and Workforce Committee released an investigation detailing China’s influence over Harvard University. The report describes numerous instances where the university prioritized financial links over the nation’s security.
According to the report, Harvard’s ties with China are “so widespread that its ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ document issued by the compliance office includes a question on collaboration with China to which the answer begins ‘There is nothing to prevent you from collaborating with former group members that are now professors in China…”
The report goes on to scrutinize the university’s research relationship with Chinese entities. Some of Harvard’s researchers have been connected to China’s defense and industrial base, it explains.
Other findings detailed by the Select Committee include the university’s funding of Treasury-sanctioned officials and China’s invitation to a Harvard professor to conduct a health series.
“Unfortunately, many of the research relationships detailed in this report remain legal, operate with minimal transparency, and persist despite clear strategic risk to U.S. national security,” the report says.
“The American people expect our nation’s leading universities to protect American research and innovation, and never advance the interests of our nation’s adversaries. Right now, Harvard is failing to deliver on that expectation,” Select Committee Chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI) said in a statement. “From allowing violence against anti-China protestors to collaborating with entities linked to the PLA, Harvard has made serious mistakes and must act now to prevent more. It should use this investigation as a catalyst for significant reforms that end CCP influence on campus and prioritize secure American research.”
The Select Committee’s findings come as Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) recently sent a letter to Education Secretary Linda McMahon calling for an investigation into Harvard University’s financial ties to China. The university received nearly $4.5 billion in foreign funding across 7,089 reported transactions, reports indicate. Of that number, $634 million came from countries presenting national security concerns, such as China, Russia, and Venezuela.
