A Chinese scholar who was a recruit of China’s contentious Thousand Talents Plan (TTP) in 2014 currently sits on the academic committee at a private boarding school in Toronto.
The English version of the school’s website also
touts SuOn’s academic guidance services, delivered by a team of experts “who are familiar with the characteristics of Chinese students,” offering support across all aspects of school and personal life.
The Chinese version of the school’s website highlights that the school’s
academic committee provides guidance for a range of educational and teaching activities, including teacher professional development, academic program design, cultivation of campus culture, and integration of Eastern and Western educational traditions. This information is not seen on the school’s English website however.
Qiang Zha, an
associate professor at York University’s Faculty of Education, is one of the scholars serving on SuOn’s
academic committee. Notably, he was previously recruited as part of the TTP in China’s Tianjin City in 2014.
This is mentioned in his
biography on the website of the Tianjin University of Technology and Education, where he was scheduled to present on Nov. 30, 2021, on the topic of “Ontario’s Post-Secondary Cooperative Education in a National and a Global Context: A mixed-methods exploration into its strength and issues.”
Mr. Zha’s TTP involvement is also mentioned in his
biography in the December 2018 edition of a journal called “Perspectives in Higher Education” published by China’s Southern University of Science and Technology.
Global Talent Recruitment
The TTP is a
global talent recruitment program initiated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 2008, with the aim of attracting leading scientists from around the world to work in China, contributing to the its economic and military development.
Ottawa has highlighted China’s TTP as a form of foreign interference, according to the
2021 Public Report by the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS). The report characterized the CCP program as a non-traditional espionage operation that often involves “individuals without formal intelligence training who have relevant subject matter expertise.”
In addition to China’s TTP, the report noted that academic talent plans are also used by multiple others states. It noted that these state-sponsored technological transfer operations “exploit the collaborative, transparent, and open nature of Canada’s government, private sector and society.”
Other foreign interference activities encompass cultivating and co-opting influential individuals to influence decision-making and control narratives on issues of interest to certain states, the report added.
CSIS released a
statement on the TTP on Aug. 7, 2020, in response to a Globe and Mail
article a day earlier on the agency’s warnings about China’s efforts to recruit Canadian scientists.
“CSIS is aware that foreign talent recruitment programs are used to advance the economic and strategic objectives of hostile states at the expense of Canada’s national interests, which may result in lost jobs and expertise, a loss in Canadian government-funded research, and a diminished competitive global advantage,” the statement said.
Scrutiny
The Chinese program has
faced scrutiny from U.S. authorities, who perceive it as a potential national security threat.
In April 2023, former Harvard University professor
Charles Lieber was sentenced in federal court in Boston after having been convicted in December 2021 on multiple charges, including lying to federal authorities about his affiliation with China’s TTP program and failing to disclose his income from Wuhan University of Technology in Wuhan City.
His sentencing included two days in prison, two years of supervised release with six months of home confinement, a fine of US$50,000, and $33,600 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service. The U.S. government had recommended a harsher sentence of 90 days in prison and a $150,000 fine.
In 2020,
U.S. physics professor James Patrick Lewis faced charges for concealing his involvement in the Chinese program while still employed at West Virginia University. In a
statement pertaining to his case, dated March 10, 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice underscored that the TTP aimed to attract overseas talent and foreign experts to bring their expertise to China and “reward individuals for stealing proprietary information.”
In that same year, U.S. federal prosecutors also brought charges against at least
half a dozen other U.S. researchers with ties to the TTP.
The Epoch Times contacted Mr. Zha through York University for comment but did not receive a response as of press time.
Reuters reported in August 2023 that in response to a U.S. investigation, the TTP program has undergone a transformation and now operates under a new name, “Qiming.” It is currently overseen by the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The restructured recruitment program provides incentives such as subsidies for home purchases and customary signing bonuses ranging from 3 to 5 million yuan (approximately C$567,000 to $945,000), reported Reuters, citing three anonymous sources.
Recognition by Chinese Consulate
SuOn touts that its students have received
offers from top universities in Canada, including nearly 1,500 offers from the University of Toronto, over 900 from McMaster University, and more than 500 from the University of Waterloo.
The secondary school has consistently received recognition from the Chinese Consulate in Toronto over the years, with letters of acknowledgment praising it for its “tremendous contributions to the security and wellness of Chinese students.”
A program known as “
Pingan Liuxue,“ or ”Safe Study Abroad” in English, operated by the International Division of China’s Ministry of Education, speaks to the objectives of the CCP for Chinese students studying overseas.
On the program’s website, a section called “Patriotic Aspirations” features comments from Chinese international students who have returned to China. They emphasize their commitment to contributing to the CCP political ambition called “the great Rejuvenation of the Chinese Nation,” which signifies the Party’s ambition to restore China to a position of prominence and power on the global stage.
A featured comment also voiced support for the “Chinese Dream,” another CCP political goal, introduced by Chinese leader Xi Jinping, which encapsulates the vision of achieving a prosperous and technologically advanced China.
The website also promotes a video production contest that aims to “further strengthen ideological and political guidance for overseas Chinese students.” It seeks to nurture their “political ideology and patriotic sentiments” and their “sense of pride, responsibility, and mission toward the Chinese nation.”
The contest is led by the International Division of the Ministry of Education, the Overseas Students’ Service Centre of the same ministry, and the CCP mouthpiece Xinhua News Agency, indicating the regime’s involvement in shaping the aspirations of international students.
Overseas Students a ‘Valuable Asset to the Party’
In an article dated Sept. 27, 2022, published on the official
WeChat account of the Pingan Liuxue program, the Chinese Ministry of Education emphasized the historical role that international Chinese students have played in contributing to the rise of communist-led China.
The article categorized international Chinese students into five different generations, starting from the first generation, those who went abroad during the period from the late 19th to early 20th centuries, to the fifth generation, those who have gone abroad since the CCP’s
18th National Congress, held in November 2012, and those who have returned after completing their studies.
The article highlighted the evolving contributions of the fifth generation—primarily those who studied abroad after 2012. It noted that these students have become more “diverse” and are now “spread across various sectors of society.”
As an example of what it described as patriotic actions of some “young role models,” the article cited Chinese students studying international law in the Netherlands issuing a collective open letter in 2016 condemning the ruling by the
South China Sea Arbitral Tribunal. The ruling had rejected Beijing’s unilateral territorial claims over the international waters.
The article further noted the international Chinese students’ efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic, a period when Beijing faced intense international
scrutiny for its handling of the virus outbreak that led to the global health crisis. The article praised Chinese students studying in Milan, Italy, at the time, who reportedly held signs saying, “I am Chinese, I am not a virus,” which it said helped to “rectify China’s image.”
“Overseas students are a valuable asset to the Party and the country. It is of great significance to elevate their sense of attachment to and cohesion toward the motherland by providing them with effective patriotic education,” the article said.
The Epoch Times reached out to SuOn for comment but didn’t hear back by press time.
