‘Heightened vigilance is warranted today across the country … Beijing has ramped up efforts to build influence at the state and local level.’
China summer programs offered by the Max S. Baucus Institute at the University of Montana School of Law are drawing scrutiny from House Republicans, who question the university’s vetting process in selecting a partner organization with ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Former Montana Sen. Max Baucus, who served as the U.S. ambassador to China from 2014 to 2017 under the Obama administration, co-founded the Max S. Baucus Institute with his wife in 2017. According to the university’s
website, the institute is organizing two study-abroad programs in China in 2024, one jointly conducted with the China-United States Exchange Foundation (CUSEF).
Participants only need to cover “very few” expenses, according to the website. “Thanks to the generosity of CUSEF, nearly all expenses are covered, including lodging, travel insurance, breakfasts at hotels, and group meals.”
‘Not a Benign Entity’
On Dec. 3, Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), chairman of the House Select Committee on the CCP, along with two Republican Montana lawmakers, Reps. Ryan Zinke and Matt Rosendale,
sent a letter to University of Montana (UMT) President Seth Bodnar, urging him to “terminate any ties with CUSEF.”
“CUSEF is not a benign entity interested in the objective education of Montanans—it is an organ of the CCP’s approach to influence operations, including those intended to shape Americans’ views toward the CCP-controlled People’s Republic of China (PRC) government,” the lawmakers wrote.
They warned that
CUSEF is among many organizations guided by the CCP’s “United Front” work, a strategy aimed to “control, mobilize, and otherwise make use of individuals outside of the party to achieve [CCP] objectives.” Last month, the committee
issued a memo, warning Americans to “recognize and resist” the CCP strategy, which Chinese leader Xi Jinping has called a “
magic weapon.”
“CUSEF is guided by officials in the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), a key united front forum designed to advance CCP objectives in and beyond the PRC,” the lawmakers added, referring to China’s official name, the People’s Republic of China. “Firms representing CUSEF have filed with the Department of Justice under the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) on numerous occasions.”
CUSEF was founded by Chinese official Tung Chee-hwa, a former Hong Kong leader and a vice chairman of the CPPCC.
Moreover, CUSEF is
managed by the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC). In 2020, when designating a Washington-based Chinese organization as a foreign mission, the State Department
warned that CPAFFC is “tasked with co-opting subnational governments.”
The lawmakers noted that the University of Texas at Austin
rejected funding from CUSEF in 2018. “Heightened vigilance is warranted today across the country: the U.S. intelligence community’s unclassified assessment delivered to Congress this year notes that Beijing has ramped up efforts to build influence at the state and local levels,” they wrote.
“In the interest of protecting students and the integrity of UMT’s programs, we urge you to terminate any ties with CUSEF and commit to a rigorous vetting process for foreign partnerships going forward,” the lawmakers added.
“Such a vetting process should exclude organizations like CUSEF that exist to promote the CCP’s narratives and interests—which have proven antithetical to academic freedom and free exchange—and to help the CCP identify foreigners who the party could exploit.”
University of Montana Director of Strategic Communications Dave Kuntz confirmed to The Epoch Times that the school had received the letter.
“As a former special forces officer, I understand firsthand the threats to freedom posed by foreign adversaries. This program is in complete compliance with state and federal law. Rather than shrink opportunity, it is our responsibility to expand learning experiences for our students so that America can compete and win around the globe,” Mr. Bodnar said in an email statement.
CCP Ties
In addition to CUSEF, Tsinghua University is another co-host of the summer program,
according to the University of Montana.
Like many universities and colleges in China, Tsinghua University
has its own “United Front Work” office.
The CCP controls Tsinghua University through the school’s Party committee, headed by its Party secretary, Qiu Yong. In an article published by the university on its website in June, Mr. Qiu
wrote, “Tsinghua University insists on [an] in-depth study of the Party’s innovative theories and continuously lays a solid ideological foundation for loyalty to the Party.”
The second 2024 summer study abroad program is jointly
hosted by the Max S. Baucus Institute and Hangzhou Wanxiang Polytechnic, a college in China established by Chinese industrial conglomerate Wanxiang Group and the municipal government of Hangzhou.
If selected for the second program, participants will stay in China for four weeks, and their expenses are “almost none,”
according to the institute, before adding, “As part of the 100,000 Strong Initiative, nearly all expenses are covered, including flights to/from China, in-country travel, lodging, travel insurance, and meals.”
In 2009, former President Barack Obama announced the “100,000 Strong” initiative, intending to “increase dramatically the number and diversify the composition of American students studying in China,”
according to the State Department. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton officially launched the initiative in Beijing the following year.
Hangzhou Wanxiang Polytechnic, which also has a Party committee and a “United Front Work” office, says on its
website that it has welcomed over 1,400 American students and teachers under the “100,000 Strong” initiative.
In August, Hangzhou Wanxiang Polytechnic
reported on its website that 16 students from the Max S. Baucus Institute had just concluded their 25-day visit to China. During their stay, they visited an exhibition dedicated to Wangxiang Group’s founder, Lu Guanqiu, who passed away in 2017 at the age of 72.
According to a press release from the Wangxiang Group, Mr. Lu was posthumously awarded the title of “National Outstanding Communist Party Member” in 2021.
Mr. Lu’s son, Lu Weiding, is currently the Wangxiang Group’s president and Party secretary, who attended the CPPCC meeting in March.
This article has been updated with comments from the University of Montana.
