House GOP China hawks urge Duke to end its relationship with Chinese university
Two Republican critics of China are urging Duke University to end its partnership with a Chinese institution with close ties to the country's government.
Rep. John Moolenaar and Rep. Tim Walberg said in a letter Wednesday to Duke that the partnership with Wuhan University helps facilitate the transfer of technology and skills to China.
'Wuhan University is not an ordinary academic institution,' they wrote in the letter to Duke President Vincent Price. 'It is a direct extension of the Chinese military and intelligence apparatus.'
The letter from Moolenaar, who is chair of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, and Walberg echoes familiar government concerns about China's efforts to develop its economy with knowledge and technology from the U.S., often in the forms of research partnership with American institutions and companies.
Duke confirmed in a statement that it had received the letter, and said the university would work 'to further educate Congress about Duke's global education mission.'
Duke Kunshan University, near Shanghai, enrolls about 3,000 students, many of whom spend time and do research at the U.S. school's main campus in Durham, North Carolina.
That's what Walberg and Moolenaar find troubling. They pointed to a 2024 joint report from the Select Committee on China and the House Education and Workforce Committee that found American research funding had contributed to technological and military advancements in Beijing.
'Given the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) well-documented efforts to exploit U.S. academic openness, this partnership creates a direct pipeline between U.S. innovation and China's military-industrial complex,' the pair wrote.
Duke is one of many elite institutions caught in President Donald Trump's ongoing assault on higher education. Layoffs as a result of cuts to grants and contracts are likely, the university hinted in April. And Duke is already rolling out a voluntary buyout program as it readies for lower federal funding levels.
Also this week, Moolenaar and Walberg joined Texas Republicans Roger Williams and Brian Babin in pushing university systems in California and New York to monitor small business grant programs for Chinese influence.
'American universities must be vigilant against foreign influence and infiltration — especially when partnered with small businesses developing cutting-edge technology,' Moolenaar said in a statement. 'This investigation is about safeguarding national security and making sure U.S. innovation benefits America, not the CCP.'
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