U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-WI) has argued for years that Communist China is taking advantage of the American higher education system by using it to steal emerging technologies.
He said it is time for that to stop.
“Communist China is notorious for unfair trade practices, intellectual property theft, espionage, and rampant human rights abuses, but they are also notorious for taking advantage of America’s higher education system,” Tiffany said in a statement. “For years, we have allowed the Chinese Government to exploit our higher education system through institutes on college campuses, like the Confucius Institutes, and these operations must be banned across the board. It is imperative that we take all necessary steps to ensure that Communist China is not stealing our military, medical, and industrial technology.”
Efforts funded by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) undermine national security, a recent report from the America First Policy Institute (AFPI) said. The claim is that the country uses student organizations—like the Confucius Institutes—to seize upon “woke” trends while claiming racism and intolerance to discredit anti-Chinese Communist Party speakers on campuses.
Moreover, the report also claims that the Chinese try to develop a cadre of “collectors” of intelligence and intellectual space. China has sought educational initiatives and has funded programs and faculty on campuses across the country while also placing students in graduate-level programs to conduct its alleged theft of intellectual property.
In an October AFPI report, FBI Director Christopher Wray noted the U.S. faces an increasing threat from hostile foreign intelligence that can be carried out by students, researchers or seemingly typical businesspeople. Furthermore, the National Association of Scholars has a list of graduate students, researchers, and visiting scholars and professors who have faced allegations of espionage and selling secrets to China. It also noted that efforts to secure technology and intelligence from American institutes of higher education is planned and deliberate. Additionally, China has conducted talent recruitment programs since the late 1990s.
In a 2019 Senate subcommittee report titled "Threats to the U.S. Research Enterprise: China’s Talent Recruitment Plans," lawmakers detailed how American taxpayers had unknowingly funded the Chinese military and economy for two decades with little interference.
First elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2020 representing Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District, Tiffany is a member of the House Committee on National Resources and the House Judiciary Committee; his House website said. He is also a member of the Congressional Taiwan Caucus.
