Lawmakers urge designation for Chinese Students and Scholars Association as foreign mission

Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, and House Education and Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Walberg have requested Secretary of State Marco Rubio to designate the Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) as a foreign mission of China’s government. This move would require CSSA chapters in the United States to notify the State Department before meeting with local governments or universities and to seek approval for public events.

In their letter, the lawmakers stated: "We are writing to express our grave concerns that the Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) is advancing the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) interests on U.S. campuses, raising serious foreign policy and national security risks—particularly given that it remains insufficiently regulated and has not been designated as a foreign mission of the People’s Republic of China (PRC)."

They referenced existing legislation: "The Foreign Missions Act passed by the U.S. Congress in 1982 was designed not only to ensure reciprocity in treatment for U.S. diplomatic and consular missions abroad, but to also regulate the activities of foreign missions operating in the homeland and protect the U.S. public from abuses of privileges and immunities by members of those missions and ensure transparency," they wrote. "The challenges presented by the increased presence of missions of foreign adversary countries have grown in recent decades. None more so than from the CCP, which utilizes a wide variety of front organizations that it owns or controls to do its bidding through its United Front strategy."

The letter included examples regarding CSSA operations: “For example, the constitution of the Southwest Chinese Students and Scholars Association (SWCSSA), a registered 501(c)(3) that covers 42 American universities, expressly indicates that it operates under the oversight of the Chinese consulate.Article 4 of the SWCSSA’s constitution expressly states that it ‘accepts the guidance of the People’s Republic of China Consulate-General in Los Angeles.’ Multiple CSSA branches on campuses advertise on their social media accounts that they are the only official association of Chinese students on their respective campuses recognized by their respective local consulates. This includes CSSA chapters at the University of Massachusetts Boston, University of Washington, University of California Santa Barbara, among others. Additionally, the Chinese Embassy in the United States controls the activities of CSSA branches through the approval of some of their leadership candidates. Also, the requirement for membership in some CSSA branches includes what amount to loyalty pledges to the Chinese government and to its policy objectives,” according to their statement.

Copies were also sent to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Secretary of Education Linda McMahon.

The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party reviews economic and security issues related to China while making policy recommendations (official website). The committee proposes legislation aimed at strengthening U.S. competitiveness against China (official website). It operates as a bipartisan body within Congress (official website).