China
GOP lawmakers call out Biden for withdrawing from Trump plan to counter China’s influence in U.S. institutions
The Biden administration quietly withdrew a rule, proposed by the Trump administration, that would have required schools and universities in the United States to report their relationships with Confucius Institutes.
Many GOP lawmakers are concerned that the Biden administration is allowing a foreign influence to operate in the U.S.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-AR, released a statement Tuesday condemning the Confucius Institute rule reversal.
“Confucius Institutes are front groups for the Chinese Communist Party on American campuses. The federal government ought to shut down these regime-run institutes or, at a minimum, require colleges to disclose their secret agreements with them. Instead, the Biden administration is allowing a foreign influence operation to continue in the shadows,” Cotton said.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-FL, tweeted Tuesday, “FBI has warned about #China’s Communist Party using #ConfuciusInstitute to infiltrate American schools. But now Biden quietly withdrawn rule proposed by Trump admin to require schools & universities to disclose their partnerships with these agents of Chinese govt influence.”
Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-NY, called Biden’s decision “not only short-sighted & harmful – it decreases transparency in our education system & emboldens the CCP.”
Confucius Institutes are public educational partnerships between colleges and universities in China and colleges and universities in other countries. They are funded by the Chinese government.
Around 500 K-12 schools and 65 colleges in the U.S. have partnerships with the Confucius Institute U.S. Center.
The Trump administration had concerns that the Chinese Communist Party was using American university campuses to engage in espionage, spread propaganda and promote censorship.
The Trump administration’s Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo said in August that the Confucius Institute was “an entity controlled by the PRC that advances Beijing’s global propaganda and malign influence campaign on US campuses and K-12 classrooms.”
The Trump administration began requiring Confucius Institutes to register as foreign missions. The Confucius Institute U.S. Center had to regularly provide information to the State Department about its personnel, recruiting, funding and operations in the United States.
The Daily Caller reported that the Trump administration submitted a proposed rule to the Department of Homeland Security on Dec. 31, 2020, titled ‘Establishing Requirement for Student and Exchange Visitor Program Certified Schools to Disclose Agreements with Confucius Institutes and Classrooms.’
The proposal was withdrawn from consideration on Jan. 26, 2020, according to The Daily Caller.
The Confucius Institute U.S. Center has not commented on the issue.
Follow Annaliese Levy on Twitter @AnnalieseLevy
China
Electric Vehicle company with Chinese ties awarded $500 million of taxpayer money for 2nd U.S. plant
With a little help from their Democrat friends, a Chinese electric vehicle (EV) battery company with ties to the Chinese Communist Party just announced the opening of its second plant in the United States.
Fox News reports Gotion Inc., whose parent company Gotion High-Tech is based in Hefei, China, unveiled plans to build a $2 billion lithium battery plant in Manteno, Illinois, alongside Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who cheered the project.
The announcement comes amid growing opposition to the company’s plans to build a billion-dollar factory in Mecosta County, Michigan.
In order to make the expansion happen, lobbyists for the Chinese Communist Party-tied electric vehicle company funneled cash to Democrats. “Individuals at a law firm registered as foreign agents to lobby on behalf of Gotion, a Chinese electric vehicle battery company developing a controversial project in Michigan, and wired campaign contributions to several top Democrats” reports Fox News.
“According to state and federal filings, Monique Field-Foster, an attorney at the Lansing office of the Warner Norcross + Judd law firm who is acting as a foreign agent on behalf of Gotion, donated to the campaigns of Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Whitmer’s sister Liz Gereghty and Michigan Democratic Senate hopeful Rep. Elissa Slotkin” the Fox News report continued.
“With the right incentives, nation-leading infrastructure, world-class workforce and booming clean energy production, we have transformed ourselves into an attractive location for global manufacturers. Today, we take another leap forward. It’s my pleasure to welcome Gotion to Illinois and to show the world yet again that Illinois is ready to be a player on the world stage.”
Pritzker delivered remarks late last week thanking Gotion for choosing Illinois to call “home” in a ceremony with leaders from Gotion High-Tech, including Li Zhen, the company’s chairman and president, who said he expected the factory to open in less than 12 months.
“All that we see here [in Illinois] are of enormous value to us: an enabling business environment, a supportive state government for the new energy industry and their highly efficient work, as well as the prospects of the State of Illinois in the coming years,” the Gotion president added. “We believe that Gotion’s battery technology will help to boost e-mobility in North America and the economic and trade exchanges between China and the U.S.”
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