Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wisconsin), chairman of the House Select Committee of the Communist Party of China, sent a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Wednesday evening asking for a response on research grants to US universities with ties to China. asked.
The letter, first reported by the Daily Mail, specifically mentions Alfred University in New York, where the Pentagon has awarded grants worth $13.5 million over five years in 2022 to conduct research into hypersonic weapons. ing. Gallagher also wrote to the university’s president, Mark Zuppan, on Wednesday.
“One university in particular, Alfred University, hosted the Confucius Institute and partnered with a Chinese university ‘actively engaged in defense research’ on behalf of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA),” Gallagher wrote. “Plainly, the Department of Defense is funding advanced research related to hypersonic weapons at American universities that are actively partnering with Chinese universities doing similar research for the PLA. We are seeking additional information regarding this alarming issue and the Pentagon’s efforts to protect classified information,” said a U.S. military study. ”
Gallagher told Fox News Digital that “US taxpayers’ $17 million will be used to fund advanced weapons-related research at universities that actively partner with Chinese research institutes working in conjunction with the Chinese military. What happened is extremely disturbing,” he said. “It’s no secret that the CCP is using Confucius Institutes to project ‘soft power’, but the CCP is using it to build Chinese ‘hard power’ weapons that can be used against Americans in the future. It’s time to reveal how you’re using the Confucius Institutes.” Conflict.
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“From the Department of Defense and Alfred University, what are we doing to ensure that US research safety is not compromised, and that US taxpayers are not being used to further the Chinese Communist Party’s military development?” I look forward to hearing soon what you are doing to help.”
In the letter, Gallagher said the research grant “will be in violation of the law as of October 1, 2023” under Section 1062 of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2021 (NDAA). The guidance prohibits the Department of Defense from controlling funds in “agency.”[s] “Higher education hosting Confucius Institutes will end after October 1, 2023,” Professor Gallagher said, despite the upcoming deadline, given that it will end in 2027, Alfred University’s subsidies are not legal. I wrote that there is a possibility of violating the
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Given that the university’s Confucius Institute is linked to a “research agreement with the China University of Geosciences in Wuhan,” the letter went on to say that “classified national security and U.S. taxpayer-funded research could be stolen or stolen.” We are seeking additional information regarding the Department of Defense’s efforts to protect against breaches.” ‘ currently maintains a research center whose research areas are ‘closely related’ to those of Alfred University.
Mr. Gallagher’s letter is based on the fact that Rep. Jim Banks (R., Indiana) also wrote to Austin, seeking exemption from having a Confucius Institute on campus while maintaining undergraduate funding. It was sent a little more than a month after sending a letter requesting an answer about the “inappropriate guidance” of
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“This policy will encourage the Chinese Communist Party to double down on U.S. colleges and espionage,” Banks told Fox News Digital at the time.
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In early March, the Senate unanimously passed a bill to tighten regulations on Confucius Institutes and limit Chinese entry into U.S. universities.
Houston Keane and Kaitlyn McFall of Fox News contributed to this report.