Recently, it came to light that a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) intelligence official now owns a property with a view of the White House. At the same time, the House Select Committee on China released a new report investigating the CCP’s influence in American higher education. Interestingly, a report from Defending Education also surfaced this month, which focuses on a CCP-funded initiative that facilitates propaganda exchange trips for American students to China. It seems that the CCP is leveraging multiple strategies to undermine and destabilize our nation, particularly through our educational institutions.
Many people in the U.S. are aware of the Confucius Institutes set up by the CCP on university campuses and how they’ve been used to disseminate propaganda and even monitor activities. The silver lining is that several of these institutes have been shut down. However, there remains a significant concern that Chairman Xi still aims to influence the American populace through educational channels.
In a letter from June 2024 addressed to the President of Kean University, Xi urged both American and Chinese universities to “cultivate young envoys who know both countries well.” This term “young envoys” refers to diplomatic representatives. Such language suggests a calculated attempt to alter American perceptions of China and its global role. Beijing has labeled this initiative as part of building a “Community of Common Destiny.” This concept, presented by a high-ranking Chinese diplomat in 2018, has been described as key to the country’s foreign relations in what it considers a new era.
Yet, it is hard to believe that this proposed “new era” will foster true mutual understanding, as evidenced by a 2023 white paper indicating that these exchanges don’t aim to promote Western ideals, which they dismiss as “so-called universal values.” Instead, they advocate for “the common values of humanity embedded in Chinese civilization.” This reflects an internal CCP directive from 2013 that explicitly instructs officials to suppress concepts like constitutional democracy and universal values within China while simultaneously promoting their ideology overseas.
Xi is not just talking; he is taking tangible steps. In a November 2023 speech, he committed to bring 50,000 Americans to China. This pledge coincided with the launch of the “Young Envoys Scholarship,” which covers expenses for American students visiting Chinese universities. The program includes guided tours to various government entities and institutions, paired with Chinese students. In its inaugural year, 14,000 Americans participated in these exchanges, according to reports from China’s ambassador.
These trips seem to be making an impact. For instance, a 2024 visit from students at Muscatine High School in Iowa culminated in them gifting Xi a flag that stated, “Grandpa Xi, Here We Are.” This trip, unsurprisingly, was fully funded by the Chinese government. Another trip led to a student from Carleton College praising a university in Beijing known for fostering a culture in which students inform on professors straying from the party line. One professor was even dismissed for praising Western civilization while criticizing Mao.
It’s important to note that American institutions aren’t merely passive observers in this scenario; too often, they seem to actively endorse the Young Envoys Scholarship. A report found 83 universities and 26 K-12 schools engaged with YES programs. An official from the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, which represents over 400 educational institutions, emphasized the significance of promoting this program during a 2024 event in China. In the same year, the Institute of International Education co-hosted a webinar that helped promote it. This is striking, considering that IIE administers the Fulbright program for the State Department; essentially, they were facilitating China’s outreach efforts. Even officials from the Biden administration attended the program’s launch in Washington in January 2024.
Our educational institutions seem to be overlooking whose objectives they are advancing. They are promoting a program that enhances Beijing’s perspective on global order rather than our own.
The current administration ought to scrutinize American students traveling to China under Chinese government funding as thoroughly as it investigates Chinese students studying in the U.S. Congress should also examine the Young Envoys Scholarship—its funding sources, institutional partnerships, and whether participating universities disclosed this information in line with federal foreign gift reporting mandates. States should similarly investigate their schools’ support for this program and reassess any associated taxpayer funding.
School administrators face a fundamental question: Do their institutions align with the intent, as established by Xi’s Politburo, which is to teach foreigners the purported benefits of socialism with Chinese characteristics?
The CCP intends to transform American students into what Xi considers diplomatic envoys, advocating for its worldview. Xi has clearly laid out these ambitions concerning American campuses, and yet, our institutions have chosen to ignore them.
